Much-changed Scorries aiming to cause problems for Banks O' Dee in league opener
Gary Manson's much-changed Wick Academy kick off their 2023/24 Highland League campaign on Saturday with a trip to face Banks O' Dee – and the Scorries will be determined to give a better account of themselves than in their two games against the Aberdeen-based outfit last season.
In September 2022, Academy suffered their heaviest home defeat since joining the league when Banks O' Dee strolled to an 8-0 win at Harmsworth Park. In January, at Spain Park, an even worse hiding looked possible as the Scorries trailed by six goals at half-time.
There was no further scoring that day, but it still added up to a demoralising tally of 14 goals conceded and none scored against opponents who were in their first season in the league.
Manson said: "We're just looking to give a better account of ourselves. We never laid a glove on them so I'm certainly hoping to cause them more problems than we did last year.
"The two games against them last season weren't good enough. Yes, they're a good team, but I think we potentially made them look better than they are. We shouldn't be conceding so many goals against them.

"We will certainly be looking to improve on that.
"It's a very tough opener, not one that you would choose, but you've got to play everybody so why not play them on the opening day?
"We're not going down just to make up the numbers. We're going down to give our best in the opening game of the season, which is always something to look forward to.
"Anything can happen on the day. We can't go on what happened last year because the team that lines up in this game will be quite a bit different.
"We'll go into it with a degree of optimism. We won't be shouting the odds that we're going to be doing this or doing that, because you can just end up with egg on your face – but, as I say, hopefully we'll give a better account of ourselves."
Manson has been revamping his squad this summer, with some players departing and six new signings being unveiled. The latest three are forward Kyle Henderson, midfielder Marc Coghill and defender Owen Harrold.
Henderson and Coghill played for Halkirk United in the North Caledonian League, while Harrold turned out for Golspie and Thurso. All three have also featured prominently for county league sides.
Earlier signings were defender Rob McLean and midfield duo James Mackay and Gary Pullen.
"We're looking to improve on every single aspect of last year," Manson said. "We'll be going down with a stronger squad in terms of strength in depth, with more numbers, and hopefully that'll stand us in good stead."
Academy won 1-0 against a youthful Ross County XI in their first pre-season game, and kept two more clean sheets against North Caledonian opposition – beating St Duthus 2-0 and Thurso 8-0.
However, Saturday's trip to Kirkwall ended in a 3-0 defeat for an under-strength Academy side in the annual Ken Green Challenge Cup clash against Orkney.
Saturday's Highland League fixtures: Banks O' Dee v Wick Academy; Brechin City v Formartine United; Clachnacuddin v Buckie Thistle; Deveronvale v Keith; Forres Mechanics v Strathspey Thistle; Fraserburgh v Lossiemouth; Nairn County v Brora Rangers; Rothes v Huntly; Turriff United v Inverurie Locos.