DEREK MCINNES insists Kilmarnock will be aiming to "set about" the Premiership next season.
The Ayrshire side are back in Scotland's top flight following a one-year absence in the Championship.
Killie won the league last term, with Blair Alston striking late against Arbroath to dramatically seal promotion at Rugby Park.
McInnes' men will face Dundee United on their flag day on July 30, before then facing Rangers, Celtic and Ross County in the following weeks.
And the ex-Aberdeen gaffer was clearly jovial in his reaction to a tough opening period for the club.
He beamed on Sky Sports: "Aye, we'll get the easy wins out the way first."
He continued: "Obviously we're eagerly anticipating the fixtures coming out, we knew we'd be at home after winning the title. We're just excited to be back, to be honest.
"When you do have that focus on the fixtures, you start to concentrate on certain dates and teams that you're playing. That's all part of the excitement.
"There's still a long way off. We've got a lot of preparation ahead of us, a lot of work to do. Everybody at the club is working extremely hard to make sure we're as ready as we can be.
"The players have been back for a week now for that first game in the League Cup. "
🗣️"We feel we can make a good account of ourselves this season. It's important we give ourselves every chance to be ready..." Derek McInnes is ready to face Dundee Utd, Rangers and Celtic in Kilmarnock's first three games back in the Scottish Premiership⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mzYpUD39D8
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) June 17, 2022
On the club's ambitions, he added: "You want to test yourself against the better teams. We feel we can make a good account of ourselves in the Premier League.
"It's important we give ourselves every chance to be ready, so recruitment, fine-tuning player's fitness and that match sharpness as we go along.
"We've got five friendlies and four cup ties ahead of that Dundee United game, so that's not our prime focus at the minute.
"Our focus is on getting the players fit, used to each other, getting those relationships together and also trying to improve the squad.
"We need some Premier League experience, but we are encouraged with what we have got in the building as well.
"We've got some good players with points to prove, a lot fo hunger about them.
"As a newly promoted club we've got to tap into that.
"We were 28-years in the top flight and for the first time we found ourselves out of it last year, so we've got to appreciate what we've got but we want to make sure we're ready to set about the Premier League. We're not just going up to survive.
"Once we get the squad complete we can say with far more confidence what our intensions are, but our intensions are certainly not to be involved with relegation.
"Most teams can find themselves down there in any given season if recruitment isn't right and you lose confidence.
"It's important we remember how we finished last season. The scenes at Rugby Park, the huge crowd - the support is there, we've just got to bring them with us as much as we can.
"I heard a few people talk about how good the standard of the league was last season, I don't concur with that.
"In terms of levels, I thought a lot of clubs underperformed. We want to try concentrate on ourselves.
"We'll set a points target to go after and if we can meet that, it brings some sort of success with that."
McInnes' reunion with Aberdeen will be a sight that many fans are looking forward to.
The Killie manager is no different.
He said: "It's October 1 when we go up to Pittodrie. It's obviously a club that I'm well associated with. Of course, privately and personally I'm looking forward to that game."
