Caley Thistle Women and Westdyke are gearing up for the SWF Championship season which begins on Sunday.
The Caley Jags kick-off their campaign with a trip to Greenock Morton, while the Westhill outfit, who won promotion from SWF League One via the play-offs, travel to Edinburgh to face Hutchison Vale.
And Inverness boss Karen Mason believes her side must embrace consistency if they are to build on last season’s fifth-place finish in the Scottish third-tier.
She said: “We know that the league is probably the most competitive there is in Scotland. Last season we saw every team can beat anyone at any given time.
“We’re going to have to make sure we’re on our game and not gifting any of these teams any opportunities to take points off of us. If we see any weaknesses then we need to punish them.
“We’re not going to be inconsistent this season – you’re going to know what you’re going to get from us.”
The Caley Thistle players have set the bar high for themselves already, while Mason expects her side to be challenging throughout the entire campaign.
She added: “The girls have said they want to be finishing in the top two at least and want to be fighting for promotion.
“We want to improve on where we finished last year and definitely want to be competing with the top four. If we can push on to the promotion places then great, but our target is to be challenging in the top half throughout the season.”
Meanwhile, acting Westdyke head coach Steve Robb believes his side are ready for the step up following promotion from the fourth-tier.
Ahead of the Championship season, the Westhill outfit have signed forward Emily Dalgetty – who last played for Montrose – and former Aberdeen Ladies goalkeeper Kirsten Pratt, with other new recruits in the pipeline.
Robb said: “Gaining promotion to the Championship was a fantastic achievement as the games were very competitive, especially in the top-half of the table after the league split.
“We are looking forward to the season ahead and facing teams we have not encountered before which in itself brings new challenges for the team as well as great opportunities for the players to show their own abilities.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to blend the youth players into the senior squad.
“We have an excellent pathway with a number of young players having made their senior debuts last season, so that is something we are passionate about continuing.
“I’m optimistic that with the hard work we’ve done over the last three years, this team can continue to develop.
“We already had a strong squad and we’ve recruited well this summer, so we’re hoping for a positive season ahead.”
SWFL Cup starts with group stage clashes
The SWFL North returned last week with Dyce, Inverurie Locos and Grampian starting the season with wins over Dryburgh Athletic, Stonehaven and Buchan, respectively.
This week the north clubs are in SWFL Cup action, with the first round group fixtures being: Buchan v Grampian, Inverurie Locos v Elgin City, Arbroath v Westdyke Thistle, and Dryburgh Athletic v Huntly.
