Brechin City manager Andy Kirk believes the short-term pain will be worth the long-term gain for his side when they begin the defence of their Highland League title later this month.
The league champions started their season on Saturday with a 3-0 defeat by Premiership side Livingston at Glebe Park in the opening game of the Viaplay Cup.
With matches to come at Hamilton Accies on Tuesday followed by a home game against Cove Rangers on Saturday and a trip to Clyde next week Kirk believes his players will reap the rewards of a testing build-up to the new campaign.
He said: “The best thing about these games is that they give us a good pre-season under our belts and it stands us in good stead for when we reach the winter months.
“We’re going to be tested in these games against tough opposition and it will give us a different type of fitness.
“Saturday was a great example of that. Livingston are a lot stronger than we are so we had to work on different aspects of our game to try to stay in the tie.”
Kirk welcomes intense build-up to new campaign
Midfielder Anthony McDonald, who missed Saturday’s game due to a back injury, is the only absentee for the trip to Hamilton.
With his side’s cup commitments extending into the SPFL Trust Trophy next month Kirk is pleased to have an intense preparation in the next week.
He said: “We altered pre-season to prepare for this as we knew there was a big run of games coming up.
“We looked to play different games in pre-season, not ones where we were dominating the ball but matches where we were up against it.
“We’ve played Livingston which was every bit as challenging as we expected and we have three more tough games to go.
“Then we’re into the league campaign followed by the SPFL Trust Trophy against Hearts and if we win that game there will be more to follow.
“These games will push us to our limit at times but it will be good for the boys in the long run.”
City winger Jordan Northcott, meanwhile, has left the club to join East of Scotland outfit Jeanfield Swifts.
Northcott, who joined Brechin on loan from St Johnstone during the 2021-22 season, signed a permanent deal with the club following his release from Saints last summer.
He made 46 appearances for Brechin and scored seven goals.