BJ Coll is pretty used to winning silverware with East Kilbride and he’s set his sights on two more trophies now he has returned to the club for a second spell.
The left-back lifted two South Challenge Cups, two East of Scotland Qualifying Cups, one Lowland League Cup and one East of Scotland City Cup during his first spell – not to mention two Lowland League titles. He also scored in a couple of finals.
And now he is embarking on a bid to take his trophy tally into double figures this weekend when EK travel to Bo’ness in the South Challenge last 16, followed by the start of their Lowland League Cup group section next Wednesday away to Dalbeattie.
So far Coll’s return since his switch from League Two Stenhousemuir hasn’t gone to plan.
He picked up an injury 15 minutes into his debut in the last round of the cup, a 5-0 win at Cumbernauld Colts last month.
But he hopes to be back in contention this weekend and has his eyes firmly on the prizes.
He said: “I’ve won a lot of cups here so the aim is to do that again in what’s left of the season.
”I think I’ve won seven cups here. I scored two against Bonnyrigg (in the 2019 South Challenge Cup final) and scored the winning penalty against Gretna a few years ago.
”I’ve got a good history in these competitions so I hope that continues.
“I’ll see how the next few months go, get back enjoying football and see what happens.
“At Stenny I was playing a bit at the start, but when the manager brought in another left-back the writing was on the wall for me there.
“I had to get out and play games and I’d kept in touch with East Kilbride throughout the season, so it was great to go back and sign for them. But I had one training session on the Thursday and then did my calf 15 minutes into my first game, so I was absolutely gutted when I was desperate to get back in and play games.
“If I did anything too soon I could have made it worse so maybe the Bo’ness game in the cup is what I’ve been aiming for.”
Coll left K-Park in 2020 after five years to link up with old EK boss Stuart Malcolm at Forfar in League One. Following their relegation, a move to Stenny in League Two followed in the summer but he fell out of favour with boss Stephen Swift after making 19 appearances for the Warriors.
Now an older head at 27, Coll hopes to pass on his experience to help the younger ones coming through at Kilby now and, hopefully, extend his stay further.
He added: “It’s been a while since I was last here so there’s been quite a big turnover of players
“The gaffer has said to get games in and then we’ll re-assess things in the summer.
“I’m looking to help the younger players. At my age, I’ve got more SPFL experience than when I was last here.
“I’ve learned the standard between the Lowland and League One isn’t massive. The toughest thing is actually getting into the SPFL, but I think if EK can get into the leagues [SPFL] then they’ll never look back.”
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