The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Price sees cup battles as chance to sharpen Elgin’s promotion bid
Elgin City will use four tough Premier Sports Cup clashes as the launch pad for their League 2 promotion push.
Manager Gavin Price is happy with several weeks of hard work and a clutch of new signings including Chris Antoniazzi, whose capture from Formartine United has now been confirmed. The former Aberdeen attacker has penned a two-year deal.
Today, their competitive campaign kicks off with their Group F opener in the League Cup away to Ayr United. After facing the Honest Men from the Championship, it will be another long trip next Saturday when they hit the road to tackle League 2 foes Annan Athletic.
Premiership St Johnstone, double cupwinners two years ago, visit Borough Briggs on July 19, before the section concludes on July 23 with Elgin hosting Queen of the South, who dropped out of the Championship in April.
The Black and Whites netted 23 goals over six pre-season games prior to Brian Cameron’s testimonial match against Rangers B in midweek. Against Clach, Lossie, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Keith and Forres Mechanics, they were winners in all six matches and didn’t even leak a goal.
The bigger picture for Elgin is to ensure they are title contenders after a nightmare ninth-spot finish last term in League 2. Price is sure four tricky
League Cup encounters will have his men fully firing for their league opener at home to East Fife on July 30.
He said: “The Forres game last Friday was, effectively, the end of our pre-season.
“We’ve had a good preparation in the past few weeks. Wednesday’s testimonial for Brian wasn’t part of that, although some players did get fitness in the legs. We can look forward now to what is the second stage for our preparation for the start of the league season. It will be four testing games within three weeks in the Premier Sports Cup before we start in the league.
“We will get more answers in these ties about where we are.”
Price, who has yet to lock horns with Ayr boss Lee Bullen, knows his side fell short last time they faced Ayr United.
They were beaten 4-0 at Borough Briggs in the Scottish Cup in March 2021, but they’re in far better shape for this trip to Somerset Park.
Price said: “We’re looking forward to going to Ayr. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there as a player, so this will be my first time as a manager.
“We played Ayr two seasons ago, just after we’d come out of Covid, and we were caught cold that day. It will be another test for the players, but our preparation has been really good and I’m excited to see what the players do”