Elgin City midfielder Daniel Moore says the pressure is off when his side faces Championship team Morton in the first round of the League Cup today.
With two divisions separating the sides, the Greenock men are clear favourites to progress, having won promotion to Scottish football’s second tier by winning League 1 last season.
However, with expectations low for Elgin, Moore says they must show no fear at Cappielow as they aim to defy the odds and reach round two, where a tie against a Premiership team could await.
Moore said: “There is less pressure on us. We need to try and give a good account of ourselves and stay in the game for as long as we can.
“We will give it a good shot. Getting through these rounds is big financially for the club, so it’s important we take these games seriously.
“We went out in the first round of both cups last season, against Stirling Albion and Queen of the South, and it wasn’t a good start going into the start of the league season.”
Elgin got their competitive season off to a fine start last weekend, beating Stirling Albion 3-2 in the first round of the Petrofac Training cup at Borough Briggs.
City’s first League 2 game of the season is next Saturday at Arbroath and Moore is frustrated the two cup weekends have caused a delay to the start of the league campaign.
The 26-year-old added: “I would rather the league started last week and for us to be going into the second week of it today.
“I would rather get the league started and get the two cup games played in midweek.
“Ahead of the winter, teams saving weeks can be important. Getting league games out of the way now would help a lot as it would mean less to catch up on.
“It would make sense to start early but it’s not up to me, it’s up to the powers that be.
“I just want the league to start.”