Bobby Main takes charge of his first competitive fixture as Manager of Bathgate Thistle tomorrow afternoon away to Dundee Violet. The McBookie.com SJFA East Premier League tie kicks off at 2:30pm.

The team travel to Glenesk Park on the back of a very encouraging pre-season schedule that included wins over Wishaw Juniors, Armadale Thistle, Motherwell FC XI and Crossgates Primrose with just the one defeat, losing out 4-3 in their first friendly away to Kennoway Star Hearts. On the training ground, Coach Barrie Malcolm has been putting the new recruits through their paces for four weeks and now, with the real action about to begin, we are all hoping that the hard work that the players have been putting in will begin to reap rewards.

In the corresponding fixture last season, the Jags were defeated 3-1 in Tayside, though the defeat was avenged with a victory back on the home turf of Creamery Park later in the season.

Assistant Manager Peter McIntyre is very much looking forward to the fixture, saying, “We’ve been building up to Saturday through all of pre-season and we’re expecting a very tough match as Violet are a good side – they all are in this league! It’s a fair distance to travel but that’s all part of playing your football at this level and it’s fixtures like this that help bring the squad even closer together as a unit. There’s a brilliant atmosphere in the team at the moment, with everyone determined to go out and make the most of the chance that they’ve earned to play for a club like Bathgate Thistle.”

There are spaces left on bus leaving Creamery Park at 11.30. £5 supporters club members and £7 non members. Contact Bobby Napier on 07864071506.

Not making it to the match? Check out our twitter feed @bathgatethistle for team news, score updates and half-time scores / full-time results from around 2:15pm.