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Kinniburgh: Climb that ladder
Gartcairn boss Willie Kinniburgh has told his players to finish as high up the West of Scotland League Conference B as possible – because that will dictate where they land after the split.
Final positions at the end of this season will determine how the proper league is set up, and Kinniburgh aims to grab the best slot that Gartcairn can.
He said:“You only have one position to go up from each of the conferences, so there will be no doubt be five or six teams looking at it in each league.
“It will be tough, it will be enjoyable, and I’m looking forward to it.
“It’s going to be a tough league; each team will be looking to pose their own problems and try to get that position further up the ladder.
“By my understanding, where you finish in the conference dictates where you’re going to be in the leagues the following season, so it’s important.”
Kinniburgh says an October 10 start date is great, because it gives everyone a target.
“October 10 is ideal, it gives us enough time to get a quick pre-season,”he said.
“I think friendlies are due to be started on September 14, so all good.
“It’s coming together, hopefully we can stay that way and it doesn’t go backwards.
“I’m talking to teams in all the other conferences and the league above to see if we can source some friendlies, so we’re negotiating with quite a few teams just now to get dates and times that suit everybody. We’re getting there.
“Now that we have dates we can pencil them in, but you don’t know if the go-ahead is going to be given.”