Elgin City manager Gavin Price feels the Betfred Cup group stage will help the Black and Whites prepare for their opening League Two fixture away to Stranraer.
City will face the Blues, who are new to the league after being relegated from League One, in their first league match of the new campaign on October 17.
By that stage City will have played up to three competitive matches in the Betfred Cup group stage, with Price to restart training for his squad in early September following a six-month shutdown due to coronavirus.
Price is determined to be ready for the trip to Stair Park, and he said: “It will be good to just get going again, get a bit more normality and get back training first and foremost in early September.
“You design the games you choose in pre-season around what you know is coming in the League Cup.
“We did well in the competition last season, we beat Alloa on penalties, we beat Stirling Albion and we were unlucky to lose in the last minute at Arbroath.
“Realistically, with who we will be drawn against, the odds are against you for getting through.
“As much as we are trying to get through it, it’s also preparation for the league season.
“We will choose our pre-season fixtures in the knowledge we will be getting three or four hard fixtures before the league season starts.”
Elgin’s trip to Stranraer is followed by a home match against Brechin City on October 24, before making the trip to Edinburgh City the next weekend.
Price, whose side finished third in the table last term, is keen to strengthen the depth of his squad prior to the start of the campaign.
Price added: “We have got to make our goals as high as we can – that’s important no matter who you are.
“Our goal is to finish as high up the league as we possibly can.
“We don’t have a lot of depth in the squad at the minute, and that might be a problem with the current constraints on what we can do.
“We are probably a couple of players short at the moment but there is plenty time between now and the start of the season.”
