Albion Rovers boss knows what to expect from Cumbernauld Colts after club raided them for players this summer
Albion Rovers boss Sandy Clark says he will know what to expect from Saturday's Lowland League opener with Cumbernauld Colts - because their local rivals raided them for players over the summer.
Colts snapped up a trio of stars from Rovers in the close season with right-backs Callum Home and Adam Fernie making the move from Monklands alongside forward Billy Mortimer. New Colts striker Josh Jack is also a former Rovers player.
So with a derby to kick-off their new Lowland League campaign, Clark will be very familiar with some of the threats the visitors will pose.
Asked what he is expecting from Colts, Clark said: 'I'm expecting to know a lot of their players! Some of them have certainly played here. I think they will be a little bit more experienced than us.
'Will they be better? I have no idea, time will tell. Will we give them a game? 100 per cent, we will give them a game alright and on the day, it will be a case of may the best team win.
'At training we try to replicate match situations as best we can, so we've had a good bit of time to prepare. This week we will really concentrate on Cumbernauld Colts and I'm sure we will be ready for that.'
Rovers warmed up for that clash with a 3-2 friendly defeat at home to St Mirren B on Saturday.
Nathan Brown and club captain Alan Reid were on target for the hosts against the Premiership youth outfit and Clark was disappointed with his side's defending at the Buddies' goals.
Reacting to the result, Clark told the club media: 'We worked well. We are trying to rebuild the squad and it was a good challenge for us. Playing St Mirren B was like when we play Hearts B and Celtic B in league games, with their players passing the ball really well, they are fit, they are full-time, they are organised.
'So that's where the real challenge came from and I thought we handled it fairly well. If you look at the game, we've lost a goal inside 30 seconds, which is really poor play from us.
'We didn't stop the cross and our lads are saying it might have been offside, but at the end of the day their striker got in between our two defenders and it was a good header.
'We reacted well to it, got back into the game and made it 1-1, but then we lost a second goal from a header in the box again. So there is a warning there that we need to stop crosses and pick up players better.
'We lost our way a bit at that point and St Mirren got their third goal. Nathan Brown got us back into it with a good goal to make it 3-2 at half-time, but I felt we were the better team in the second half.
'We scored a really good goal that I felt was well onside but the officials didn't see it that way.
'We had some other chances, we stopped St Mirren playing, our press was better and what we got out of it in the end was a lot of fitness for certain players and I got a good look at the trialists. Our squad will be much clearer by Saturday.'
Kick-off at Cliftonhill on Saturday is 3pm.
Gers kid signs on loan at Rovers
Albion Rovers have snapped up goalkeeper Alfie Halliwell on loan from Rangers as they prepare to kick-off the new Lowland League season on Saturday.
Cliftonhill gaffer Sandy Clark has added are the Scotland Youth International to his ranks and the teenager made his first outing for the Monklands men in Saturday's 3-2 friendly defeat to St Mirren B.
The 17-year-old shot-stopper rose through the ranks at the Ibrox-based side, featuring in the Rangers B squad that lifted the Glasgow Cup, as well as training with the Rangers First Team squad on occasion, working alongside former Stoke City and Manchester Utd goalkeeper Jack Butland and former QPR and Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly.
On the international stage, Alfie has two caps for the Scotland Men's U17s, making his debut in an international friendly away to Switzerland and was recently called up to a U19s training camp at the end of last season.
Halliwell said: 'It feels really good and I am really excited for the season.
'Once I spoke to Sandy, I really wanted to play under him. Both him and George [Paterson] are really experienced in the game.
'I'm here to keep the ball out the back of the net. I am a young player that wants to play in men's football.'
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