SAUCHIE new boy Ross Harkness knows he has a fight on his hands to earn the number one shirt from Darren Dolan after sealing his whirlwind move from Pollok last week.

The former Stirling University keeper signed an 18-month deal that will see him remain at Beechwood Park until the end of next season and he is now just itching to make an impact at the club, but knows he must earn the gloves if he wants to be the first choice keeper.

Harkness told Advertiser sport, “I am not sure when my debut will be, but I am looking forward to it whenever it may come. Obviously, I am coming in here with Darren Dolan in the squad and he is already in the team and a top goalkeeper.

“I know will have a good fight for the number one shirt and we will just have to wait and see what happens. Darren is a nice lad though and I am sure we will be able to push one and other to the limit and that can only be a good thing for the team. It is always the same when you move to any new club, you want to come in, establish yourself and make a real go of things so that is exactly what I am looking to do.

“I am really pleased to sign up at Sauchie and the move just seems to have happened so quickly. I was moving house so I needed to move back through East. Fraser knew my manager at Pollok, Tony McInally, so the move came about sooner than i’d expected, but I am pleased to be here and I just can’t wait to get started now.

“I have only trained with the lads for a few sessions, but they are a good bunch and have been very welcoming to me. I have been really impressed with the setup and facilities at the club and now I just can’t wait to play in a match at Beechwood Park.” Harkness could be in line to make his debut in the East of Scotland Cup clash with Broxburn this weekend, but while the talented stopper admits he is unfamiliar with the McBookie.com East Super League teams, he does believe that might just work to his advantage.

He said: “To be honest I don’t know much about the league, but I guess in a way that isn’t necessarily a bad thing because sometimes you can read too much into a team’s reputation. Obviously, I have heard of the likes of Bo’ness and Linlithgow, but the rest I am sure I can rely on the rest of the lads to guide me.

“I have played in the East of Scotland league with Stirling University, then I had a spell in the Highland League before moving to Wishaw and then Pollok.

I am coming into the East Super League, which is something new for me now, so I will just take it one game at a time and see where it takes us.” The 27-year-old is looking forward to facing some of the most lethal strikers in the league and says he is looking forward to the challenge.

Harkness added: “Obviously, you hear about certain players or prolific strikers and you always want to test yourself against the best in the division, but I have no fears about that so we will just need to see how I get on.

“I am looking forward to it and hopefully I can do my bit to help the club.”