RAITH ROVERS take on Southport tonight and Chester City tomorrow as their pre-season preparations kick off in earnest with a mini-tour to the north west of England.

Manager John McGlynn is delighted with the way things have gone in training so far and, importantly, as he looks for the new players to settle in, has no injury worries ahead of the trip.

“Southport have just dropped out of the conference but will still provide a hard game, while we’re expecting a stiffer test against the Coca Cola league side,” said McGlynn.

“The games will be good for us but the trip is also about team bonding.”

With major personnel changes—gone are Kevin Fotheringham, Paul McManus, Steve Bonar, Brian Fairbairn and Sean Kilgannon, while Keiron Renton, Craig Wilson, Robert Sloan, Ryan Borris, Graham Weir and Andy Tod have all come on board—McGlynn is looking for things to gel quickly.

Tod, who has signed a one-year deal, has chosen Rovers ahead of a number of other clubs and will add height and strength to the attack.

“We have been tracking Andy for some time and I have signed him as a striker to complement Steven Hislop and Graham Weir.

I’ll be looking to our wide players such as Derek Carcarry and Robert Sloan to take on defenders and deliver crosses into the box,” said the Stark’s Park boss.

He’s desperate for Rovers to hit the ground running at the start of the new campaign and not have to play catch up as they did last term when a poor start cost them dearly.

“We’ll be making a really determined assault on promotion, that’s why I am here. I’m not here to muck about.

“We made a big effort last year and we have to do it again, although I am not suggesting for a moment that it’ll be easy.

“Raith Rovers are a big club in the Second Division but we are no different in that everyone is trying to get out of it.

“With the changes I’ve made, I hope we’ve got better quality than last season, but only time will tell,” said McGlynn.