Leith Athletic boss keen to put together a run

The reigning East of Scotland League champions were idle last weekend having been knocked out of the William Hill Scottish Cup by Cumbernauld Colts earlier this month.

But, with a run of games now pencilled in right up until the festive period, Riddel is hoping his players can finally gain some momentum.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Football Nation Qualifying Cup second-round clash against Lowland League side Preston Athletic, Riddel said: “It’s just been a wee bit stop-start so far this season. I think it’s because we’ve had a Sunday game, played midweek so that’s disrupted training.

“It certainly feels stop-start from my perspective. We’re looking to get a wee run of games now so we should have a match every Saturday up until December 10. Hopefully we get games played over the next six weeks or so.

“I suppose these things happen though. We’ve not got as many games this year as we’ve had in previous seasons so on that basis we should manage to squeeze everything in this year.”

Riddel says the prospect of a trip to the Pennypit certainly holds little fear for his side.

“It will be interesting to see where we can put ourselves,” he said. “I know Preston lost to Lothian Thistle a few weeks back so it will be interesting to see how we do. It’s a new venue for a lot of my guys as well so I’m sure they’ll enjoy going there.

“We go into every game fancying our chances. I’d fancy ourselves against any of the Lowland League sides. I think we are more than capable of competing against these teams.”

Elsewhere in league action tomorrow, Ormiston host Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale at Recreation Park, Tynecastle welcome Stirling University to Saughton Enclosure and Heriot-Watt University entertain Burntisland Shipyard at  Riccarton.