Derek McInnes doesn’t think the Scottish Premiership was up to its usual standards last season.
The Kilmarnock boss watched from the level below as Celtic reclaimed the top flight title, Hearts finished third and Dundee failed to beat the drop.
The likes of Aberdeen and Hibs finished in the bottom six, which was still a seven-way battle ahead of the penultimate fixtures before the split.
Kille will be in amongst it next season after McInnes answered the Rugby Park club’s title SOS following Tommy Wright’s sacking, and got them over the line at the first time of asking.
But he disagreed with the assessment that the Premiership was packed with quality last term.
“I heard a few people talk about how good the league standard was last season,” he said. “I didn’t concur with that actually. In terms of levels, I thought a lot of clubs underperformed.
“We want to concentrate on ourselves though. We have a points target we've set and will try to go after. If we can beat that then it will bring some sort of success.
“But ultimately, the Premier League focus is to try and make sure we get some good players in, get them fit and ready and then we can assess where we want to or plan to be in the season ahead.”
Kilmarnock kick their season off at home to Dundee United and after a season away, McInnes is grateful they're back at the top table.
And while he won't be content with merely avoiding relegation, he’s warned that the variables at play mean staying out of the scrap at the bottom is easier said than done.
“We found ourselves out of it last season which wasn't where we wanted to be, so we’ve got to appreciate it,” he told Sky Sports.
“But we’ve also got to make sure we’re there to go and set about the Premiership. We don’t want to go up and just survive. It’s important that if we're confident to say that and do that, then we have to recruit well too.
“Once we get the squad complete, we can say with far more confidence what our intentions are.
“Our intention isn’t to be involved in a relegation fight but most teams can find themselves down there in any given season.
“If the recruitment isn't right, you get injured and all the rest of it it, then you can lose a bit of confidence
“It’s important that we remember how we finished last season. The scenes at Rugby Park with a huge crowd shows the support is there, we just need to try and bring them with us as much as we can.
“We do that by winning games in the Premiership every week and having a team people want to come and watch.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do but we’re also encouraged by what’s here already. It’s a great club to work for but we want to be a successful club at the same time.”
