Ross Tokely speaks about what he expects from Nairn County in new season
ROSS Tokely says he is looking to improve on what Nairn County achieved in the Highland League last season as he looks forward to his first campaign in charge of the club.
Tokely was appointed manager of Nairn County after former boss Steven Mackay stood down in charge after the end of last season.
In the 2023/24 campaign, Nairn County finished eighth place in the Highland League and also won the North of Scotland Cup with a famous 5-4 win over Ross County in the final.
Tokely says he has not set any specific targets of where he is aiming for Nairn County to finish in the league this season.
However, he is looking for the club to improve on what they achieved in the previous campaign.
He said: "I don't have any targets. We're just looking to improve from the management previously here, who did such a good job.
"We want to do better in the league, and we want to be good in the cup, including having a good Scottish Cup run.”
Tokely has made several new additions to the Nairn County squad this season.
They include striker Gary Kerr, who signed up following the expiry of his contract at Rothes.
Midfielder Alan Pollock, who has also returned to Nairn County after deciding to leave Rothes.
Striker Ben Barron has arrived on a permanent deal from League Two outfit Elgin City.
Former Ross County striker Matthew Wright has also signed up at Station Park.
Tokely says he is not finished looking at bringing in new players and will look to add before the season starts next month.
"I'm not finished yet, and I'm looking to take more bodies in. We will see how things go squad-wise from there.
"We still have several weeks to go before the new season. So we have some good tests in friendlies before then.”
Despite the result, Tokely was pleased his team got a taste of testing themselves against top flight opposition.
He said: "We played some nice stuff and the boys worked hard on many of the things we've been focused on over the last few weeks.
"It was a good test for us against a good side, who are four divisions ahead of us.
"When we got it back to 2-1, we conceded a throw-in and St Johnstone then had the quality to go and hurt us.
"We held them for a bit in the second half, worked hard and we managed to get a few younger lads on.
"At the minute. we're down to the bare bones. Fraser Dingwall also took a sore one on the ankle, so I'm looking at options to try and strengthen the squad.
"Hopefully we can do something next week with a couple of players.
"On the whole, I was pleased as there were a lot of positives, but also we have a lot of stuff to work on in terms of how we want to shape up for the season ahead.
"We probably won't face a side as good as St Johnstone again this year. Their movement was pretty good. It was a good test and that's what I was looking for.
"I was just disappointed to lose goals near the end when we tired a bit.
"It was nice to see Andrew Greig back and he scored, although it had a deflection.
"It will take a wee bit of time for him, but it was really good to have him back.
"At 2-1, we hoped to make a bit of a game of it for five or 10 minutes, but we conceded a third so soon after that.”
Tokely added: "It was pleasing to see the new signings play.
"Matty Wright looked really lively and I've no doubt these guys will improve us. We have good options up front once these guys find their feet.”
