DARREN YOUNG hopes the experience of Billy Stark will help Albion Rovers consolidate their new-found place in the Ladbrokes SPFL League One this coming season.

The Coatbridge club’s player/manager knows that maintaining their status in the third tier of Scottish football is the priority, but if he can tap into the wisdom of his new assistant boss he believes that the play-off places may not be out of reach.

“The main thing for the club would be consolidation and staying in the league, because I think we’ve bounced about the last couple of times we’ve been up,” said Young, who led Rovers to the League Two title last season, his first in charge of the club.

“But on a personal level, you don’t want to get too far ahead, but if you can get mid-table or push to the play-offs ...

“If you can get a good start, you can kick on from there. If not, it changes things slightly. After the first quarter of the fixtures you get a feel to see what the teams you’re up against are like.”

Sandy Clark was the supportive old head for Young last year, but when the former striker left last month, the 36-year-old manager quickly decided that Stark would be the ideal man for the vacancy.

“Last year we had Sandy, but he’s off to Dunfermline,” Young said. “People said the year before ‘I can’t believe you managed to get Sandy’, and now they’re saying the same about Billy. But if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

“I worked with Billy on the A [coaching] licence just last week. I heard a lot of good things about him, and a lot of people said he was one of the best coaches they had worked with.

"Once I got to work with Billy on the A licence he came across brilliantly, a really good coach, easy to talk to and lots of great ideas.

“I hope to still be playing this year, and having that experience on the sidelines is vital for what we’re trying to achieve. It’s great for me, because I’m learning all the time, and hopefully I can learn some more stuff off Starky. ”