DAVID McMillan’s Perth career got off to a false start when he was injured on his home debut against Partick Thistle soon after making the move from Irish football.
But the former Dundalk striker proved his credentials when he bounced back in style before the end of the campaign with strikes against Motherwell and Hamilton.
And he opened his account for the new campaign with a slickly-converted goal in a 3-1 weekend win over Forfar Athletic in the Betfred Cup.
Manager Tommy Wright has been shuffling his formations in the build-up to the league opener at Kilmarnock this weekend.
And the 29-year-old Irishman is hoping to hold onto his place for the trip to Rugby Park after an illness picked up by midfielder Stefan Scougall gave him a chance to impress against Forfar alongside new recruit Tony Watt.
McMillan said: “It is definitely good to get off the mark early as a striker.
“I have probably had better performances but it was nice to get a goal at Forfar. It was a good win to finish off what was a tough group.
“I was looking to make my mark and get my first goal of the season. Thankfully I did just that.
“It has all been building towards the first game in the league at Kilmarnock.
“We have had tough games and that has been good for us.
“It was good to play on astro against Montrose and again at Forfar because that’s what we will face at Kilmarnock. We won both those games so it bodes well for us.”
McMillan and one-time Celtic striker Watt have already shown signs of developing a productive frontline partnership.
McMillan added: “A couple of players have gone and we have had some new arrivals. It’s all about healthy competition.
“Tony has got himself a couple of goals already.
“He is a good character. You can see he is still getting his fitness back but his touch is excellent and you can see he is a finisher.
“Tony will bring a lot to the squad.
“Relationships take a bit of time to build. But we started very well in a friendly at Berwick when we both scored in a 4-0 win and we got on the scoresheet at Forfar.
“The manager has been mixing things up a bit and we are all getting to know each other.
“We will all be hoping to be picked this weekend but we have a long season ahead of us and I’m sure the squad will come into play.”
