Orkney manager Charlie Alway believes the challenge of succeeding in the North Caledonian League has never been tougher.
The league has been extended to 13 teams this term, following the relegation of Fort William from the Highland League and the addition of Clachnacuddin reserves.
Orkney finished sixth in the table last year, and were among the chasing pack for the title until the latter part of the campaign.
With the increased league resulting in four extra games for each team this season, Alway reckons the standard has never been higher.
Alway said: “This league has come out of the pandemic absolutely flying.
“It’s a lot stronger than it was. I know Fort William have put a few goals away, and the side we faced would seem to me to be very strong.
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“But there are no whipping boys in there anymore. Every team you play against is capable of beating you.
“Inverness Athletic beat us at home, having not finished high up last year.
“It’s a really competitive league, and it’s in great shape.
“If last year is anything to go by, it’s going to be really tight again.
“Invergordon are never going to be far away – and they have already lost a couple of games.
“Once we get to mid-November, we should have a decent view of how everyone is shaping up.”
Islanders aiming to spark momentum
Orkney have faced a stop-start schedule so far this term, with Saturday’s trip to Nairn County reserves their first fixture since September 17.
Alway is expecting a bigger pool of players to be available in the coming weeks, which he hopes can help them climb from their current ninth position in the table.
He added: “The summer commitments of the players are now finished. We are training twice a week now, which is where we want to be.
“Hopefully we can get a regular squad available and playing, although a lot of managers will be in the same boat.
“It would have been nice at this stage to have had a few more points and a few more minutes.
“The challenge is to now go and do that.
“We got ourselves into it last year, but it wasn’t a sustained run. That’s what we are looking for.
“We want to be in the mix as long as we possibly can.
“I’ve been trying to chop the season up into four six-game chunks.
“If we can come out of these first six games, where it’s really difficult to manage the summer situation, with double figures of points, we can bounce on in the next six games.
“We are on target for that, even though it’s been a bit slow. That will hopefully give us the platform to stay relevant for as long as possible.”
Loch Ness travel to Fort William in top of table encounter
Nairn will aim to bounce back from Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Invergordon, who are out of action this weekend.
Loch Ness defeated Alness United 2-0 in midweek to retain top spot, with Shane Carling’s side making the trip to Fort William in an intriguing encounter.
Golspie Sutherland are just a point off the summit, after clocking up their fourth straight win with a 2-1 triumph over Halkirk United in Wednesday’s other fixture.
Mark McKernie’s men will look to keep up their 100% record when they travel to Thurso this weekend, while Halkirk are away to Clach reserves.
Elsewhere, St Duthus host Inverness Athletic while Alness United take on Bonar Bridge.
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