ANT McTaggart is as much a part of Sauchie as the red strips and the midfielder can't contain his excitement ahead of another season at Beechwood Park.

The 26-year-old will make it seven years with his local club as he agreed to follow the Fraser Duncan and Iain Diack reigns by signing on to the Martin Mooney era.

And although McTaggart's time with his new boss has been brief, he can already tell the former East Stirlingshire coach is living up to his reputation.

McTaggart told Advertiser Sport: "I love playing at Sauchie and it is just a perfect place for me and it's a great group of lads.

"Training has been short and sharp and it has been really good so far. As the games go on, I think you will see us get better and better.

"I didn't know Martin before he came in but had heard about his training and it's been really good since he came in.

"Everyone seems to be enjoying it.

"You can tell by the training already that we are improving. Things a lot more professional and we are doing a lot of ball work."

McTaggart played an hour on Saturday as the Reds got the Mooney era off to a stuttering start in a 1-0 defeat to Kilsyth Rangers.

But, Sauchie were missing several key players, including Kyle Turnbull, and McTaggart is convinced they will only get better.

He said: "It was a good game and the first one is always tough when you are getting back to it.

"We've not played in so long and even although training has been of a really good tempo since the gaffer came in you only really get your fitness in games.

"You'll get that from playing three, four games and it helps that they were a good opposition. They were a decent outfit and better than I thought they were going to be.

"We are missing three or four boys who are on holiday and the gaffer is still speaking to some boys but I think we have a good squad.

"We played alright and had a couple of chances and probably should have scored.

"But like I say, it's a game underneath the belt and a chance to get the legs going.

"We'll do well this year and think the boys we've signed – like Kyle from Linlithgow and Lewis from Camelon – will improve us as a squad."