Keith Lasley expects a baptism of fire against Romanian heavyweights Rapid București in the first pre-season match of the new campaign.
The Steelmen get their preparations underway against high-quality opposition who have already made short work of Greenock Morton and Stenhousemuir in previous matches.
It will be the fifth time in five years the Steelmen have matched up against Romanian opposition, having previously faced Dinamo București, Steaua București, CFR Cluj and the now defunct Unirea Urziceni.
And the veteran midfielder is under no illusions just how big a test against a side with over fifteen international players in their squad.
[pullquote]In my experience, teams from Romanian are normally very talented and technically very good.[/pullquote]
He said: “It’s sure to be a stiff test – the key will be the style of football we are likely to face.
“There is no doubt that it’s a different style and a different pace; we’ve found that over the last few years in Europe. In my experience, teams from Romanian are normally very talented and technically very good.
“We are looking forward to it though, being our first match. We have put in a lot of running and fitness work over the last ten days so it will be good to get some time on the ball.
“Coming up against a team of this calibre will hopefully stand us in good stead going in to the Champions League game at the end of the month.”