Cove Rangers stalwart Alan Redford reckons the club should be pleased with how they have taken to life in League One.
With football below the Championship on a three-week pause in Scotland, Cove sit second in League One in their first year at this level.
This comes on the back of winning the League Two title in their first season as an SPFL club, being 13 points clear when the league was ended in April.
Cove have won six of their first 11 games this season – two points behind leaders Falkirk – and ahead of full-time sides like Airdrieonians and Partick Thistle.
Redford said: “I would imagine they would be pretty happy with where they’re at.
“They had five games that maybe took them down a wee bit, but I think they’ve got to be happy. They’re still in a really good position – to be second at this stage, they would have taken that at the start of the season.”
Redford does have some degree of envy for his old team-mates getting to go to Ibrox to face Rangers in the third round of the Scottish Cup, even if the stands will be empty.
He said: “If it would be in front of a packed house, what an experience that would be. There’s guys that have played in front of big crowds in their early career but I think this would be Cove’s biggest game.
“What a great thing to share with guys you’ve grown up playing football with.”
The 40-year-old, who joined Cove from Huntly in 2010, has watched several of the club’s games from home this season and is pleased to see them continuing where they left off in the previous campaign.
He added: “They look more creative than most teams in the league. They have carried on from last year.
“It’s not quite as easy to get wins as it was, but I think you’re seeing them play the football the manager wants them to play.
“The conditions at Cove can impact quite a lot of these games. But Cove know how to deal with them and are used to playing on the pitch.”
Legendary Cove Rangers defender Alan Redford has left the club after more than a decade of loyal service
Read more from the manager, team-mates past & present and the chairman here ➡️ https://t.co/31TV0vN9V2
Thanks for the memories, Reds 💙#COYC pic.twitter.com/rIFaRvbKBG
— Cove Rangers FC (@CoveRangersFC) June 4, 2020
The curtailment of the 2019-20 season brought an early end to Redford’s time with Cove, after a decade of service, and – while he spoke to a number of Highland League and junior clubs over the summer – no-one convinced him to sign.
Redford added: “It wasn’t the best way to finish, but they ended up winning the league and I got a winner’s medal for it. It’s strange when you don’t really feature throughout the season; it’s definitely a different experience to when you feature heavily and have a big impact on what happens.
“With the way things have broken down (with the football season), I’m not too disappointed not to be playing.
“I do miss the competitive side of it, but the kids are getting older and are doing plenty of activities. I would be rushing around and probably wouldn’t enjoy that side of it.
“I would rather not change what my kids are doing than have to put that to one side and prioritise myself, as it wouldn’t be fair.”