Title race will be tougher than ever
Skipper is expecting a tighter contest
Barry Russell reckons it will be harder than ever to win the Lowland League this season.
The Kilby skipper took his side to within a penalty shootout of League Two football last season, winning the league and beating Buckie Thistle in the SPFL playoff semi-finals before losing to Cowdenbeath in the cruellest of manners.
For Russell and new EK gaffer Billy Stark the aim now is to go one better than last term.
The new campaign begins with a home tie against Gala Fairydean Rovers on July 29, closely followed by a trip to potential title challengers BSC Glasgow, who have made a number of impressive signings, including EK man and former Albion Rovers defender Ciaran Donnelly and ex-Kilby striker Jack Smith, on August 1.
But the 28-year-old insists it will be a much more open contest than last season, where Kilby topped the table from start to finish.
Russell told the News: “This season will be much more difficult.
“Everyone will be out to beat us after what we achieved last season and I think the league is stronger than it’s been before too.
“There will be more teams than East Stirling challenging us. BSC, Spartans and Cumbernauld are all good sides.
“BSC Glasgow have made some good signings and I think they will be the ones to watch. I played with Ciaran Donnelly at Albion Rovers and they’ve brought in Ryan McStay, who has a lot of senior experience as well.
“And then there’s Jack Smith. He’s proved when he was with us that he can handle himself and score goals at this level but hopefully we can keep him out when we play them.
“That’s one of our first games and if we are going to win the league again that’s the type of game we need to be winning.
“BSC will be a hard game but we’ll just do what we did last season: take it one game at a time and not look too far ahead.
“That was successful for us so I’m sure we’ll be looking to do the same again.”
Following last season’s challenge from East Stirling, many Kilby fans will have scoured the fixture list to find their meetings with Shire.
And, just like last season, their first meeting will take place at K-Park. Kilby will host last season’s runners-up on September 23 before the return fixture at Ochilview on December 16.
Kilby beat Shire 1-0 last year before losing the return tie (after the title was won) 3-2 in April.
Russell said: “It was a crucial early game last season and when we won it that gave us a lot of confidence and we pushed on from there.
“That helped us win the league and hopefully we can set ourselves up to do it again.”
Everyone will be out to beat us after what we achieved last season