Elgin City manager Allan Hale hopes his League Two side can put on a five-star show against Premiership Hibs when they meet on Saturday.
The Edinburgh club head to Moray in their opening tie in Group C in the Premier Sports Cup in what will be David Gray’s first competitive match in charge of the capital club.
Hale has made seven summer signings as Elgin shaped up for the new campaign by winning friendlies against Highland League opponents Inverurie Locos, Forres Mechanics and Buckie Thistle.
Hibs have returned from the Netherlands where they signed off with a 1-0 win against Greek club PAOK.
Defend well and attack with menace
Hale, whose seven signings include midfielder Lewis Hyde and strikers Dajon Golding and Ryan Sargent says they must get the balance right between defending well and showing bite in attack.
He said: “It’s one we’re looking forward to and it will be one that the players relish.
“In terms of our game-plan and our approach to it, we want to be positive.
“We’re asking our players to be brave and try to play the way we want them to play.
“We will, of course, have to concede possession. Hibs are three leagues above us and they train every day.
“They’re just back from two weeks abroad doing double sessions most days. They will be fit and sharp.
“Their new manager David Gray is building his own team, and the players are out to impress him.
“For us, we want to showcase that we have good, attacking players.
“But it would be naive to say we’re going to go gung-ho and all-out attack.
“We have to get the balance right and that means defend in the right areas and be able to attack in the right areas and create some chances of our own. Hopefully that will give Hibs a competitive game.”
Golding ‘is a credit to himself’ – boss
One Elgin player who will hope to cause problems for Hibs is ex-Cove forward Golding, who scored a hat-trick against Forres and followed it with a brace at Buckie last weekend.
Hale added: “Dajon has hit the ground running, pretty much from where he left off last season.
“He’s come back fit and sharp, which is a credit to himself in terms of how serious he takes his career.
“He’s a very important signing for us and one we worked all summer to get concluded.
“We’re delighted that he sees his immediate future with Elgin, and we’re delighted he’s linked up with the squad again.
“Dajon was maybe disappointed with his numbers last season, but there were contributing factors to that.
“He was playing from February onwards with a pretty nasty (hamstring) injury, which he probably shouldn’t have been playing with. It showed his commitment to the cause at the time.
“He’s over that injury now and he’s fit, sharp and has been scoring goal.”
