The prospect of facing up to sides with competitive football under their belts will drive the Dundee United players on in pre-season, according to John Rankin.
United are away to Aberdeen, home to Motherwell and then on the road again at Celtic in their first three league matches.
And all of those sides will have played in Europe.
The Tannadice midfielder knows the Tangerines will not be able to match the trio’s “competitive edge” but they will put as much intensity into their training and warm-up matches as possible.
He said: “You always think you’re OK in pre-season until you compete against other people and it becomes difficult.
“But the lads are right back into it now and we know it’s all about hard work.
“With Aberdeen, Motherwell and Celtic in our first three games it’s going to be tough because they’ll all be ahead of us with competitive games.
“They will have an edge that we won’t so we’ve got to get right up to speed.
“We had it when we played in Europe, we started the season well after it because of the fitness aspect.
“It’s a massive thing, no matter how fit you are you need a competitive edge.”
