Olly McDonald

Elgin City new signing Olly McDonald

Transcript

00:00I think pre-season games have been good tests, but I think we've done well, obviously to

00:05come away with four wins out of four. Again, pre-seasons, it's obviously more about getting

00:11fitness, everybody getting to gel. Again, there's a lot of new players at the club.

00:16It's hard just to throw a bunch of boys together and say, right, go and play. So I would say

00:22for the games we've played, there's been tough opponents, obviously for Highland League and

00:25stuff. We've done well. Over the course of the season, you're going to need a full squad.

00:32The Gaffer said maybe last season we were a wee bit light in squad depth and stuff. So

00:36I think this season he's tried to amend that a wee bit, which he seems to have done. Again,

00:43not just in the forward area, but defensively as well. I think we've got a good few new

00:46faces in there as well. So, yeah, it's all positive.

00:48You got a go in your very first game against Inverary as well, didn't you? Last Friday, was it?

00:52Aye. Again, just come on and try to get match fitness. That's what pre-season's about.

00:57If you can add a wee goal here and there, then it's all good. League 1's, maybe come

01:03December, January time, maybe a wee bit easier because of the pitches and stuff, because

01:06there's a lot of artificial pitches. But no, I wouldn't say there's too much of a difference.

01:12Obviously, I was at Clyde League 1 as well, then went to Stranraer and that. I think the

01:16only probably difference, maybe up the top end of League 1's a wee bit different, but

01:21it's probably the pitches and stuff. It's just trying to gel with the players and stuff.

01:25You don't know how players play, what runs they make, what kind of passes they look for.

01:29So, I think when you go into a new team, it takes you a wee bit of time getting used to

01:32that. But when it does, hopefully everything will gel together, yeah.

01:35There's a big commitment for you to travel this distance to come up and play for Elgin,

01:38you know? So, obviously, you feel like you're buying into something that's going places?

01:43No. Again, I spoke to the manager a few times over Zoom, over phone calls and stuff,

01:49and he was really positive, spoke very well to me. Again, I made the decision quite quick

01:57to come up. So, again, hopefully it works out and I'm sure it will.

02:02That all starts next week with a game against Hibs. Have you ever played against a Premier

02:05League team before? Yeah, I played Hibs two years ago

02:09with Clyde in the same competition, same game, match day one. Again, it's definitely a tough

02:14task, but you just need to stay positive and hopefully we can get something from it.

02:19The cup games are the start of the season. Some teams take it as pre-season, some teams

02:23take it a wee bit more serious. But I think if you want a good start to the season, I think

02:27having a good few games in the cup always stands you in good stead.