Danny Dunglinson is aiming for a top three spot – even though the top eight would be promoted due to league reconstruction.
Threave Rovers manager Danny Dunglinson(Image: Les Snowdon)
Threave Rovers boss Danny Dunglinson wants a second successive promotion – but not by “default”.
The Castle Douglas side kick-off life in the second division of the West of Scotland League against Blantyre Vics on Saturday.
League reconstruction means the top eight will be promoted – but Dunglinson is targeting a top three place.
He said: “The top eight goes up with the restructure but for me going up is still in the top three.
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“That would get you up any season, this season is a one-off and we don’t want to go up through default in seventh or eighth, we want to be pushing for the top three.
“I don’t see why we can’t make that if we start well and apply ourselves.
“The year we’ve had as this group and as a management team in the third division will be invaluable.
“Even though I’ve played in the West, I was taken a bit by surprise and was perhaps a bit naive with the way I wanted to play.
“The boys have seen the West is a hard league and have been playing against big, strong men who have played at a good level.
“I hope that lets us kick on this season and push at the top end.
“We’ve always felt the third division was more of a battle. The higher you go there’s more structure and more football played.
“When it’s a football game, we feel confident we can play anyone in the West but having to adapt to the physical side was where we struggled.
“We’ve adapted to the physical side and now we’ve stepped up a bit more football might be played.”
Threave finished their pre-season preparations with a 2-1 win over Penrith on Saturday.
And Dunglinson is pleased with how things have gone over the summer – even though he admitted results are irrelevant.
He said: “It’s nice to get into the habit of winning games and creating momentum.
“We’ve had four good results. Performance wise there’s been some good points, although I wouldn’t say we’ve played well for 90 minutes over one game.
“It’s given us stuff to work on and I’d rather we had stuff to work on than a perfect pre-season then you get to the first game and things start to go wrong.
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“I feel we’re stronger than last year. We’ve added four or five and only lost one. With no disrespect to the under-20s who came in at times last season, I feel the quality is up.
“At times last year we were a bit short and when boys were missing there weren’t as many options to change it. This year, with a bigger squad I feel if one or two are missing we’re equally as strong.”
Like Threave, Saturday’s visitors to Meadow Park Blantyre Vics are new to the second division – having been relegated last year.
Dunglinson added: “From what I’m hearing, they’ll feel they should be there or there abouts. They’ve put a bit of money towards getting back up – I think they only won three games last season but it’s a totally new squad so you can’t read too much into that.
“From speaking to people in and around the league, every team says their aim is to go up. It’s a unique opportunity with eight going up and I think it’ll take until Christmas to see who is pushing for the top three or four and who is down in ninth or 10th.
“It’s a strange one as it’s a totally new league for us and they probably don’t know a lot more about us. It’s maybe a good thing as we won’t go in underestimating teams.”