Kinniburgh going with a bumper squad

Gartcairn will start the season with a squad of at least 19 players as they prepare for the West of Scotland League Second Division.

Gaffer Willie Kinniburgh hopes to line up at least six pre-season friendlies and hopes to have as strong a squad as possible, but is happy with the business done so far.

He said: “We’ve got a squad ready, which we’re maybe one or two players short of where we’d be delighted to be, but at the moment it’s looking excellent with the boys we’ve got in.

“They will be announced over the next couple of weeks because the committee are quite keen to keep things close to their chests.

“We’ve done well with recruitment, in my opinion, and I’m quite happy with the squad we’ve got.

“We’re sitting with a squad of 19 signed payers, we’ve had to go higher because we think it’s going to be seven subs, so you need 18 minimum.

“Watching games just now, when they bring five subs on it’s totally foreign – it might work, they might drop it back down to three, but we’ll just go with it.

“We need to make the squad as strong as possible, so that you’re not making subs for the sake of it, you’re making subs to actually impact on the game.”

Kinniburgh has heard of a possible re-start date of October 10, but says he won’t believe that until First Minister Nicola Sturgeon gives the green light and league bosses announce it.

He hopes October 10 is when football will return, though, and admits he’s desperate to get back.

“I’m hoping and praying that it is, to be honest, ”he said, “but I’m hearing lots of mixed things from managers that things might be changing.

“I’m taking everything with a pinch of salt until it’s on the dotted line that this is when we’re starting.

“We started back on Monday just for social distancing pre-season for running and general fitness. You can do all the running you want, but you need to play games to get your fitness up and be ready.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of other managers about pre-season friendlies, and it’s up in the air. If we can sort it, it will be done, and we will have as many as we can possibly get, but you just don’t know.

“Before the season starts you need at least a dozen, and preferably towards eight.

“It will be tremendous to get football back, I’ve never missed anything so much, honestly!

“You can watch as much football as you like but it’s night and day to actually be there and having the feeling that it’s match-day, regardless of the level you play or coach at - everybody misses it.

“If you take something away that you take for granted – which let’s face it we all do – and it’s suddenly not there any more, it’s a real shock to the system.

“I’m really looking forward to it, just for a bit of normality. That’s your ritual, that’s your routine. You look forward to the Saturday; you work hard midweek and then the Saturday comes and that’s your game.”