Nairn County midfielder Kenny McKenzie feels the team needs to improve markedly in the remainder of the Highland League season.
Injuries and inconsistencies have blighted their campaign so far, but even with those hurdles, Nairn have clambered up to ninth in the table.
Their form so far does not represent much to shout about for McKenzie and he believes there has to be more to come.
He said: “It’s got to be better than the first half of the season, which shouldn’t be too difficult.
“We’ve done well in the last few games and normally it is a case of wanting to beat last year’s points total. That isn’t going to work because of Covid.
“The way it’s looking just now, it’s trying to be best-of-the-rest. There’s a decent gap between the top seven or eight and the rest, so I suppose that has to be the target.
“At the start we had a lot of injuries, myself included, and they weren’t getting any better. At one point, we had a whole starting 11 out.
“Right now we’re still missing a few boys, like Liam Shewan and Scott Davidson, but numbers are getting there and boys are looking good.”
The midfielder became the latest Nairn player to sign a contract extension last week, penning a deal until the summer of 2023.
McKenzie has been a stalwart of the club since joining in 2015. He signed from Fort William alongside fellow Wee County regular and long-time friend Callum Maclean.
Kenny McKenzie has signed a new contract with us to 2023 🤩 Full story 👇https://t.co/iK5k2TKW1e pic.twitter.com/eJqrSve4A6
— Nairn County FC (@NairnCounty) February 3, 2022
He said: “It was fairly straight-forward. I’m based in Inverness and training is closer to home, which helps.
“I’ve been at Nairn a long time now and I really enjoy it. I enjoy the boys that are there and we’re good mates on and off the pitch. I would say it’s become home, football-wise.
“When I came back up from university, a lot of boys from Inverness at the time went to Fort William. I knew five or six of them and, to be honest, I didn’t know where I was going after university.
“I went to Fort William and it was great, but it’s not the easiest in terms of travelling, getting down there for training.
“It was an easy decision to move to Nairn and I’d say the club is in a really good place right now.”