Cove Rangers defender Morgyn Neill insists the players have bought in to what new manager Jim McIntyre wants to do.
The Aberdeen side start their first season in the second tier on July 30 under new management, with McIntyre at the helm.
Cove developed a strong reputation for playing on the front foot during Paul Hartley’s tenure and were regularly among the league’s best goalscorers.
McIntyre has previously stated he wants to press high up the park and take the game to the opposition. He has also shifted to a back four with two forward players on the park.
Neill, who was one of the most improved players at Cove last season, is relishing the start of the league campaign and does not want the team to sacrifice what they are good at.
“I’m glad to be back. I love it here – it’s the best club I’ve been at,” said Neill. “There’s obviously a new manager and I’m trying to do my best and hope he plays me.
“We’re probably going with a different shape than what we’re used to, but every manager has got different ideas with how they want to play.
Team believing in manager important
“We’ve got to be respectful to the opposition in the league above, because in the Championship we probably won’t have a lot of the ball in some games. But we’ll not try and change the way we play.
“The main thing is the boys are buying into what the gaffer wants to do.”
Cove have had two tests against full-time teams early in pre-season, with a friendly against St Johnstone and the League Cup tie against Livingston on Saturday.
They will face eight full-time teams in the Championship this season, so such preparation should stand them in good stead.
“We showed that last year – stats don’t lie – and we’re trying to take that into this year,” said Neill. “We took Hibs to extra-time and they scored against us in the last 10 minutes.
“We believe in ourselves and for now it’s still about trying to get boys fitness. Games are coming very quick.
“We did well against Livingston, there were just a couple things we could have done better with their goals. When they go to 10 men you’ve got to be careful how many people go forward; with their second goal, we probably got too carried away with having so many people forward up the park.”
Cove played their third group game at home to Kelty Hearts tonight, with the League Two champions following a similar trajectory to the former Highland Leaguers after achieving promotion from the Lowland League.
“Kelty are probably have a similar ambition to our club,” added Neill. “I’m sure with the players they’ve got they’ll be wanting to do something similar to us.
“We go into every game expecting to win. We came up short on Saturday, but we still played a good game. We just need to manage the game a bit better.”