St Johnstone WFC kick-off their SWPL2 campaign away at Kilmarnock on Sunday.
The match at Winton Park, Ardrossan, is scheduled to begin at 3pm and all support for the Saints is welcome. It will be donation on entry for fans.
Ahead of the opener, head coach Josh Henderson said: “Everybody is looking forward to getting the season started. You can play all the friendlies you want but, when there are points up for grabs, the excitement lifts in the squad.
“We’ve got minutes in the legs, tried new ideas and have learned more about ourselves as a squad. It has all helped our preparation.”
New arrivals Brogan Anderson, Kristen Taplin, Klara Brady and Emily Shanks have integrated well with the squad.
Josh added: “Our new signings have all settled well and have fitted in perfectly. They are working hard and bring energy to different parts of the pitch. That is what we have been looking for.”
On the challenge of facing Kilmarnock, Josh said: “Teams have brought in different players and will have different tactics. You can work on how teams might set-up, but it can all change.
“Kilmarnock will not be an easy game but going down there is something we’ll look forward to. We want to start fast and get on the ball, of course. But you also need to be composed with and without the ball to make sure we aren’t making mistakes.
“It will be a very competitive league with five new teams from last year. We’re glad to be part of the league and want to push ourselves to show what we can do.”
Beyond Sunday, returning to the McDiarmid Park astro in the coming weeks is something the squad is looking forward to.
Josh said: “We’ll be back at McDiarmid Park soon. It will be great both training and playing on the astro. Hopefully we’ll see more supporters along at the games, because that can be massive for the team.”
