Rutherglen Glencairn co-boss Joe Pryce will use the next few weeks as a ‘mini pre-season’ in a bid to re-ignite their West of Scotland First Division title charge.
Glens have a public friendly arranged against Premier Division side Pollok at the Hamish B. Allan Stadium on Saturday (2pm), but also beat Caledonian Locomotive 3-2 in a bounce game last weekend, with another against Lanark United on January 4.
Pryce said: “We’re using this as a mini pre-season for us, if you like. We have three weeks off, but we’re making sure that, by the time the season restarts, we’re ready to go again.
“We’ve lost a wee bit of spark over the last month or six weeks, we’re hoping to regain that, and hopefully this wee break will help us do that.
“The game against Pollok is going to be a test for us, up against a top-quality side.
“We’re looking forward to testing ourselves against a Premier Division side, it will be a good game for us, and it’s also the Saturday between Christmas and New Year, so hopefully people will want to come out and see the game.
“We had a wee bounce game on Saturday, so that keeps the players ticking over.
“We were playing against Caley Locos, beat them 3-2, and it was a good test for us.
“They’re not a bad side, with some good young players, and it let us get some players who haven’t been playing back on the pitch as well.
“We’ve got another bounce game against Lanark United the week after the Pollok game as well – we’re trying to keep the Saturdays as normal as possible, with a game every Saturday and training in midweek.
“We’ll get back into it and be ready for the second half of the campaign.”
Glencairn are on the verge of announcing a new signing, and Pryce is looking for at least one more to bolster his squad.
He said: “We’ve brought one in, it’s just not been signed and sealed, yet.
“We’re looking to get another one in if we can, maybe two if we can get them, because we need a couple of fresh faces just to liven the place up a bit.
“They have to be the right type, of the right quality, and they’ve got to suit us.
“We need to strengthen, defensively, because we’re losing too many goals. We’re joint-10th in the league in goals conceded.”