Fortrose footballer Lewis Hyde believes Elgin City outfit will be ‘different beast’ upon return to action as pre-season kicks off ahead of hopes of a League Two title challenge
Lewis Hyde says Elgin City’s squad have come back with an extra fire in their bellies to right the wrongs of last season’s play-off defeat.
The 22-year-old from Fortrose was a fixture in Allan Hale’s starting 11 last season, but suffered a hamstring tear on the final day of the League Two campaign, meaning he played no part in either of the fixtures against Annan Athletic.
Like the rest of his teammates though, Hyde returned for pre-season and is preparing for their first friendly match ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, a trip to Lossiemouth for Liam and Ross Archibald’s testimonial match.
For all involved, it will be nice to get some minutes back into the legs, but Hyde insists Elgin are approaching the new campaign with a renewed focus and hunger to deliver results.
“I think everyone enjoyed their time off, because it was a long season last season, but I think everyone is coming into this season feeling like they fell short,” Hyde explained.
“Everyone has a bit more hunger to make sure we don’t do that again this year, there’s a bit more fire in everyone’s bellies and everyone has come back in really good nick to go and compete for the league.
“We obviously just take every game as it comes and focus on the next, and we went through a sticky spell from January but it shows the strength of the group we’ve got that we bounced back from that.
“There was no point in those six games that we felt down and out, and that’s just the mentality that has been instilled in us. We’re ready to go about our business.
“It’s definitely our intention to go for the title. Given how well we did last season and where we were at – I think we were top of the league at Christmas – we definitely have it in us.
“We’ll just take every game as it comes. There are a lot of new teams involved, a lot of fresh challenges, so we’ll be going out to be up there again.
“Hopefully we’ll just be a completely new beast mentality-wise.”
Despite picking up a calf issue on his return for pre-season training, Hyde hopes to be involved against Lossie to continue cementing his place in Elgin’s team.
It was a nice change of pace for him last season, with his 38 appearances across all competitions by far the most minutes he had amassed across a single campaign.
That, in turn, has led to him feeling like a much better player than the one who moved to Borough Briggs last summer, and he wants to keep that upward trajectory going too.
“I’m really enjoying the group and the coaching we’re getting from the gaffer,” Hyde added.
“I absolutely feel like the player I was a year ago is nothing like the player I am now.
“You’re always learning, and I have picked so many savvy things up from experienced boys like Ross Draper, who have played my position at a really high level. They always have nuggets of information that helps you.
“I’m always looking to improve my own game, but I’m happy to self-sacrifice too. Even if I’m not on top of my game, I want the team to be doing well.
“If the team is doing well, that indicates we are doing well as a group and by extension I’ll be doing well personally.”
