Ross County midfielder Michael Gardyne reckons increased competition for places will help him and his team thrive in the Premiership.
Gardyne is back at Victoria Park for a fourth spell, signing permanently with the Staggies after spending last season on loan from Dundee United.
Gardyne had spent the last two years out on loan, first at Kilmarnock before last season’s return to Dingwall where he played an integral role in the escape from the threat of relegation.
Having signed a two-year contract with the Staggies, Gardyne is relishing the competition for places, with manager Jim McIntyre having added former Hartlepool player Jonathan Franks to compete with Gardyne, and fellow wide midfielders Raffaele De Vita and Tony Dingwall.
Gardyne played an hour of Saturday’s 2-0 friendly defeat at home to Dutch club NEC Nijmegen – County’s final warm-up match before Saturday’s Premiership opener against champions Celtic – and said: “The start of the season can’t come quickly enough.
“I’m happy to be back. The manager has shown a bit of faith in me, giving me a two-year contract, and we did well at the end of last season so it would be nice to take that into the new season.
“It’s nice knowing this is my club now, I’m not here or at Kilmarnock on loan. Ross County is my team and I’m going to be playing here for the next two seasons.
“It’s a big thing for me and I’m looking forward to it.
“This is my fourth spell back, so that’s been about seven or eight years in total. The manager has brought his ideas and the players have bought into them.
“We’ve got cover in every position, which is brilliant. It can only be good for the squad. Every player wants someone pushing them for his place in the team, so if there are injuries there’s always going to be somebody who can step in.”
The former Celtic player was impressed by Saturday’s opposition, believing the match will serve as good preparation the league opener against his former club.
Gardyne added: “We did well against a good team, especially in the first half when we coped with them well.
“They were a standard above what we’ve played against in the pre-season matches in Hungary and back here in Scotland.
“We’ll not face that quality of team every week.
“Against Celtic on Saturday it will probably be similar, but we have nothing to lose against them.”