Russell Dingwall believes Elgin City have yet to hit top gear this season as they prepare to host East Fife on Saturday.
The Black and Whites have taken a point from their opening three League Two matches, but have advanced to the third round of the SPFL Trust Trophy.
Their next opponents are a Fifers outfit who defeated them 3-1 in the Viaplay Cup group stage last month.
Midfielder Dingwall is confident his side are in a stronger place than they were on that occasion, and he is determined to showcase this by claiming a first league victory of the campaign.
Dingwall, who signed a new two-year deal in the summer, said: “It’s all about trying to gel together. It’s going to take time, we know that, but we can’t lose too much ground in the league while we are doing that.
“We need to start picking up results and we know that.
“We were using the cup to build our squad. The last time we played East Fife they were pretty much at full strength for what they will be this season. We had a few younger boys playing, but we have had a lot more players come in since then.
“It has been a big change for the whole club this summer, and the squad as well.
“The whole pre-season it was all about building towards the league. We have started a bit slow, but in all the games we have been right among it.
“We know we have been nowhere near our best, so that’s the positive we have to take on. If we can kick on and create a few more chances, and score the first goal in a game, we can kick on from there.
“We have not been good, yet we have not been far off it at all.”
Midfielder aiming to make home advantage count
Dingwall is relishing the opportunity to return to Borough Briggs, with the 26-year-old determined to make the most of City’s home games this season.
He added: “Last week was a tough one for us. We weren’t good.
“I thought Spartans were a really good side who played some really nice football and we struggled to match them.
“It was a case of what we want to do to teams happening to us.
“It will be good to get back to Borough Briggs. We won on penalties against Forfar (in the SPFL Trust Trophy) which was a good result, and it hopefully gives us something to build on.
“We know it should be a difficult place to come to. We get it on the other end when we go away on a long journey, so it should really be a positive for us when teams come up here.
“It’s just about starting games right and going from there, because we know teams will be a bit lethargic after the long journey, and we need to take advantage of it.”
Draper making most of loan market
Player-manager Ross Draper has made seven new additions during the summer, with all but two of the new arrivals joining on loan.
Liam Harvey and Blair MacKenzie have joined from Aberdeen, while Matthew Wright, Ryan MacLeman and Connall Ewan are on temporary deals from Ross County.
Dingwall, who came through the youth ranks at County before joining Elgin in 2019, hopes his side can benefit from the injection of young freshness in their side.
Dingwall added: “You know what you get when you bring in young boys on loan. You get lots of energy and enthusiasm to come and play.
“With a new squad, that’s what we need.
“They have obviously got quality, being full-time and training every day, which is why they are at those clubs. It’s good for us to get them on board.
“If you are a young player at County or Aberdeen, and you go out on loan and start playing week-in, week-out, it gives you a focus for the end of your week.
“You don’t feel like you are just training every week for no reason.
“For myself, I found when I went out on loan it gave me something to aim to at the weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
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