The new Scottish League Cup format has received a cautious welcome from managers of two clubs chasing this season’s Highland League champion-ship.
The competition winners will earn a place in the group stages of next season’s competition with the opportunity to play four matches against SPFL opposition in July, including one match against a Premiership team.
Cove Rangers manager John Sheran knows the money would be welcomed by whichever club claims the title – but is concerned about fitting four extra matches into an already congested calendar.
This season’s Highland League campaign started on July 25 with the final set of fixtures scheduled to take place on April 16.
The early finish to the season is to accommodate the end-of-season pyramid play-offs between the winners of the Highland and Lowland leagues and the bottom-placed club in League 2, with the first leg taking place on April 23.
Sheran said: “It just adds another incentive to try-ing to win the Highland League this season.
“On the other side, by the turn of the year, we will have already played 31 or 32 matches this season in all competitions.
“Whoever wins the title this season will have another four matches on top of that this time next year.”
Formartine United manager Kris Hunter is also concerned about the extra fixtures.
He said: “It sounds a decent enough idea, but it would mean the league winners playing four additional games in July.
“Once the Highland League season kicks off we tend to be playing every Saturday and Wednesday for the first six or seven weeks.
“My only concern is about burning the players out because they are already playing a lot of football.
“But whoever wins the league would be able to test themselves against a Premiership team and that would be a very good opportunity for that club.”