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MANAGER Paul Hartley is excited by the prospect of starting the new season against his old club Hibs.

We face the Premiership side at Balmoral Stadium in less than a week in the group stages of the Betfred League Cup.

The match, which kicks off at 12.30pm, is being screened on Premier Sports, the first occasion one of our home matches has been chosen for live coverage.

“Nobody will be giving us a chance against them, but we are all eager to do well,” said Paul, who played for Hibs from 1998-2000 before going on to also star for Hearts, Celtic and Scotland.

“It will be the first game to be televised live from our ground, which adds to the excitement around the tie. It’s a real shame there won’t be any fans there to see it, we would have had a full house that’s for sure.”

“It will still be a great occasion for the players and they know they are going to have to be at their best against a top quality side who have made a great start to their season.”

Paul was speaking after we ended our run of closed door pre-season friendlies with a 4-1 victory over Aberdeen Junior champions Banks o’ Dee at Balmoral Stadium.

A second half double from Leighton McIntosh and first half efforts by Jordon Brown and club captain Mitch Megginson were enough to decide what was a highly entertaining game, despite the fact it was played in atrocious conditions due to the constant driving rain.

Paul added: “It was a good, tough, work out.”

“The players all managed to get a few more minutes in and we played some good football, despite the tough conditions. We are very happy with the way the pre-season has gone, there have been a lot of good performances.”

“I’ve never been one for getting too carried away, regardless of how things have gone. But it’s been pleasing to see us looking so fit and we can now focus on getting ready to play Hibs.”

We went ahead in the 28th minute when Harry Milne’s dinked cross from the left reached BROWN and he acrobatically twisted his body to net with a diving header from around the penalty spot.

It was 2-0 in the 38th minute, from a well rehearsed corner routine.

Jamie Masson played the ball in from the left to Milne, then raced infield to collect the return pass.

The midfielder then tried to curl a shot inside the far post from the edge of the Dee area but MEGGINSON made sure by deftly flicking the ball beyond the keeper from the edge of the six yard box.

Skipper Megginson turned provider for the third goal, in the 59th minute.

He played a clever pass forward to McINTOSH, who fired an unstoppable shot home from 15 yards.

Rob ARMSTRONG pulled a goal back for the Junior side a minute later but McINTOSH rounded off an impressive team performance by rifling the ball into the bottom corner from 18 yards to make it 4-1 in the 67th minute.

COVE RANGERS: McKenzie, Scott Ross, Milne, Higgins, Graham, Scully, Yule, Semple, Megginson, Masson, Brown.

Subs: Strachan, Livingstone, McIntosh, Leighton, Redman, Demus

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