Gregor Buchanan says he can't wait for competitive football to get underway as St Mirren's 2017/18 campaign officially gets underway this weekend.
The Buddies travel to Stranraer on Saturday to face the League One side in the first match in the Betfred Cup group stages.
And the 27 year-old, who joined the Buddies in May after leaving fellow Championship side Dumbarton, admits he is eager to get going.
I'm looking forward to Saturday," he told stmirren.com.
"You look at the calendar all pre-season and see that first game.
"The Betfred Cup is now a stage where everybody wants to do well.
"It's going to be a tough group but we are expected to get out of it."
Like Saints teammate Gavin Reilly, Buchanan says he is a fan of the group stage format that came into being last season.
The defender believes it has freshened up the competition and points to last year's final between Aberdeen and Celtic as showing its importance.
It has probably helped the competition," he said.
"It's given it a facelift and I think it's important to keep refreshing things.
"It seemed to be an exciting competition last season and it was two big teams that were in the final and that shows you how important a competition it is.
"We want to do well in it."
Buchanan is delighted to be back in full-time football after his spell with Dumbarton and says he is going to work as hard as he can to earn himself a place in the starting eleven.
It's been really good," he said of his short time at St Mirren so far.
"I feel like I've come in and settled in pretty quickly which is important.
"Getting back to full time was what I was aiming for, so I'm just giving me all every day and trying to work my way into the team.
"There's an intensity every day especially with what the manager wants. He wants us to play at a good level so you have to be fit and sharp and he wants that every day.
"That's my main focus - to be at that stage every day so I'm happy with that.
"I'm just getting used to what the manager wants and I'm doing everything I can to be in his plans."
