Kieran Watson makes Penicuik Athletic title goal his priority before stepping up two levels

Kieran Watson will swap Penicuik Athletic for Edinburgh City in the summer, but his immediate focus is firmly on signing off his three years with the club by lifting the East of Scotland Premier title.

The 22-year-old midfielder was snapped up on a pre-contract agreement with the League Two outfit and will link up with the Citizens alongside Cuikie team-mate Nicky Reid in the summer. He has unfinished business to contend with first of all.

“Stevie [McLeish, Penicuik manager] told me that Gary Naysmith had been on the phone to ask if I was interested in going to training with them,” said former Hearts and Hibs youngster Watson.

“I had only recently signed a new contract, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I felt I wanted to get out of East of Scotland and maybe challenge myself a bit more because I have been here a few years.

Penicuik's Kieran Watson will join Edinburgh City at the end of the season

“Stevie has always said to me he wouldn’t stop me going to a higher level. He was really nice about. He pushed it forward and said he wanted me to do well.

“I started training with them and was then offered a contract. To me it was a no brainer, I would never usually sign anywhere for two years, but the club has good aspirations and it will be a good challenge for me stepping up two leagues. I’ve had a really good season and I feel I deserve the chance to go and prove myself.

“I’m excited about it, but I’m still a Penicuik player and I’ve not even thought about next season. I’ve made some good pals here and the best way to leave would be by winning the league and a trophy.”

Penicuik are locked in a three-way title battle with Tranent and Linlithgow Rose, with five of their final six matches at home. Watson feels they are in a good place ahead of hosting Dundonald Bluebell tomorrow.

He added: “We’ve had quite a few players injured but we are all back together now, Tuesday night was the first time in a while we’ve had a full squad, there was two or three players who never got stripped.

“We’ve got five games over the next couple of weeks, so we are going to need everybody. It’s good to have everybody back, we look in good shape.

“Every game now is going to be hard. There are teams fighting for relegation and there are teams who just want to beat us to put us out the title race.”

Message from the editor

Thank you for reading this article. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.