Potential St Johnstone advantage for cup clash revealed as East Kilbride boss hails Simo Valakari
The manager of St Johnstone's first opponents of next season has spoken of his admiration for Perth head coach, Simo Valakari.
SPFL new boys, East Kilbride, will host Saints in the Premier Sports Cup opener on Saturday, July 12.
Their boss, Mick Kennedy, is a fan of the Finn's footballing principles.
And he's excited about the prospect of going head to head with the McDiarmid Park side next month.
'St Johnstone is a massive game to kick us off after getting into the SPFL,' said Kennedy.
'I know they had an unsuccessful season and had a new manager come in, but I have a lot of admiration for Simo Valakari in terms of how his side plays.
'He is trying to implement a possession-based style of play so I think that will make for a good game between us.
'We will go to try and win all the games, and we'll certainly show no fear.'
Raith Rovers, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Elgin City are the other sides in Group F.
And Saints may have an advantage in getting East Kilbride, who were promoted into League Two through the play-offs, first.
'We will try and get one friendly in before the cup starts but that will be our pre-season,' said Kennedy, who guided his team to SPFL Trust Trophy victories over Airdrie and Ayr United last season.
'Because we finished a lot later than the SPFL teams and the boys needed their break we need to use the competition as our pre-season.'
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