Kevin Rutkiewicz admits it is "50/50" that East Kilbride will be able to hold on to a trio of loan stars in the new year.
Motherwell defender Logan Dunachie, Kilmarnock goalkeeper Curtis Lyle and St Mirren defender Luke Kenny are all approaching the end of their short-term deals in January.
The Kilby boss is determined to keep them at K-Park until the end of the season as they bid for the Lowland League title and promotion to the SPFL, but the final decision will be out of his hands and he admits it is up in the air whether all three will play on into 2023.
Rutkiewicz, whose side close out 2022 on Friday night away to Cumbernauld Colts, said: “We have got a few loan deals to discuss with Logan Dunachie, Luke and Curtis Lyle’s parent clubs to see the lay of the land with them.
“We need to see what the parent clubs are thinking for their loan players, come January, because the landscape would change for us, so it will definitely be a busy couple of weeks for us.
“We’ve already touched base with the clubs. Curtis is out of contract with Kilmarnock and his contract will not be renewed there so he is in a slightly different position to the rest of the players because he is going to become a free agent.
“He has got a big decision to make, coming from full-time football, so what does he do?
“We will sit down with Curtis and have a chat with him.
“Big Logan has played about 75 per cent of the games since he has been here, and been a good addition for us.
“I spoke to Stuart Kettlewell [Motherwell’s lead development coach], just briefly, about plans for Logan.
“Motherwell know he’s not been involved in the last couple of squads and when you approach the window, they will look at the most recent history.
“I’ve got to explain to them that there is a genuine chance of Logan being involved going forward and I’ve got to present that argument to them.
“I’ve got a difficult job when everyone is fit.
“Gary Miller is our captain but he has not made the last couple of squad because I’ve felt the balance of our squad has been pretty good and I didn’t want to change it too hastily.
“So there’s difficult decisions to be made and I’m 50/50 on all of the loan players, in terms of if we will be able to keep them.
“We will wait and see what happens.
“With Luke Kenny, he has not long arrived and when we spoke to Diarmuid O’Carroll [the St Mirren assistant manager] about that one, we agreed that because it is such a short loan [a one-month deal] initially, we will discuss it nearer the January 10 deadline on his deal.”
Rutkiewicz hopes to find out as soon as possible where things stand so he can make moves in the transfer market.
He added: “I’m not saying this is what we want to happen, but assuming if all three did go back to their parent clubs, we’ve definitely got to recruit.
“We have a good squad here so there is no need to rip it up.
“The pressure is on us to make this team better now because the longer you are together, the better you should get.
“That’s what we want to happen and if the right players become available in the window, who could improve our 11, then we would go for it.”
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