Peterhead co-manager Jordon Brown hopes his squad can build an understanding as well as momentum ahead of their League Two season as they get their Premier Sports Cup campaign under way on Saturday.
Chances to train together have been few and far between for the Blue Toon squad in a short close season, and the four League Cup group games against Queen’s Park, Elgin City, Kelty Hearts and Hibernian are going to be important for the Balmoor outfit.
Brown said: “It feels as if it has come around very quickly. The competitive edge will come naturally as soon as we get to the stadium on Saturday.
“The buzz of a competitive fixture hits different.
“It has been a short close season and we’ve only trained together as a group three times.
“We’ve had three games – one being a testimonial and the other two behind closed doors.
“We’ve had another turnover at the club and have brought in five new guys, but we’re under no illusions how tough it will be.
“It usually is for League Two clubs in this competition.”
Blue Toon preparations impacted by the weather
Peterhead’s preparations for the new season were impacted on Wednesday when their glamour friendly against Aberdeen was cancelled due to wet weather making travelling conditions hazardous.
The Dons and the Blue Toon managed to play a game behind closed doors at Cormack Park with Jimmy Thelin’s side running out 4-0 winners.
Missing out on a lucrative home game, however, was a huge disappointment for Brown’s club.
He said: “Wednesday was a bit mental to put it mildly, but in the end it was a good workout for the players.
“We wanted the big occasion and a lot of work was put in behind the scenes to get organised and the tickets were almost sold out, so it’s disappointing.
“But we needed a game as our south guys had travelled up.
“We still missed a few as there were guys from Peterhead who couldn’t travel up and a few south guys as well, but the workout was good as we build towards Saturday.”
Peterhead cup campaign begins with back-to-back home games
First up in the Premier Sports Cup for the Blue Toon this weekend is Championship outfit Queen’s Park.
With Peterhead’s first two games both at home, Brown is hoping for a good start.
He said: “It’s unusual to start with two home games, against Queen’s Park and Elgin, then two tough away ones at Kelty and Hibs.
“They’ll all be different tests, but we’ll take it one game at a time.
“The main thing is to get through these games with minutes into the guys and hopefully some momentum to take us into the league in August.
“I saw the Queen’s Park result (4-6 against Celtic) from Wednesday, so it seems their pre-season games have been quite different to ours, as we’ve had low-scoring games.
“They are full-time and Callum Davidson is an experienced successful manager so they will be well prepared.
“We’ll need to be right at it from the start.”
Jack Brown misses the first game of the competition due to suspension.
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