Albion Rovers manager Darren Young is relishing the chance to test his players against some of Scottish football’s biggest clubs this pre-season.

Rovers have lined up friendlies at Cliftonhill against Motherwell and Falkirk before kicking off their League Cup group fixtures, and then they will face Celtic in the Jock Stein Friendship Cup on August 4th.

Young hopes that by pitting his men against sides from a higher level, he will reap the rewards when the club’s League One campaign kicks off.

“It’s great for the players and also for the fans to get to see us play against teams that have that wee bit of quality,” Young said.

“It will also be a good measure for ourselves to see how we are as a team shaping up for the season ahead.

“It’s good that they are trying to change things around a bit with the cup so we will see how it goes after we have played the games.

“In terms of our pre-season training, it will be similar to last season except we will have less games as the cup games will be coming thick and fast each midweek.”

Young is still looking to add to his squad after losing key men like last season’s top scorer Ally Love.

He said: “We’ll have several trialists in, and depending on how they do we will either look to sign them or move on to some others. We also have two offers in for players at the minute so we are waiting to hear back if we have been successful or not.”

Meanwhile, Rovers last week appointed former Rangers goalkeeper Lindsay Hamilton as their new goalkeeping coach.

Young believes that Hamilton – who also coaches the Scotland National ladies - will play a massive role in the further development of promising goalkeeper Ross Stewart.

“Lindsay is a great guy who will fit in well at the club,” Young added. “He will bring a wealth of experience to the club and is also helping out at international level.

“We’re confident that he will help to push Ross on to another level and also whoever else we bring in to challenge for the number one jersey.”