Shotts No.2 Martin Devlin hopes they are close to landing some signing targets as the Hannah Park club look to strengthen for their West of Scotland First Division campaign.
And a bounce game amongst the squad at Dalziel Park last Thursday allowed them to run the rule over a few players.
Retirements and players taking a step back to spend more time with growing families has left Shotts a bit short in some departments, while Devlin wants more competition for places in others.
But he says boss John McKeown is a master at bringing in new stars, and reckons they will know where they are early in July.
Devlin said: “There are a few boys in on trial for them to have a look at us, and vice-versa, but we had good numbers last week.
“We had about 18 in on Tuesday and another 20 on Thursday, we had a full pitch at Dalziel, so we had a bounce game, which let us get a look at guys, check players’ fitness and things like that.
“We’re in the market for a few positions, purely down to some guys taking a wee bit of time away from football, so there are a few positions we need to fill.
“We’re looking to strengthen in the middle of the park, just for competition more than anything else, but you know what it’s like with the money that’s being flung about by some teams, and we’re not quite in that market.
“But we saw quite a few games at the end of last season, John [boss John McKeown] is always on top of it when it comes to contacts and keeping tabs on players – he’s probably one of the best at that, at our level.
“We’re looking to strengthen the squad and we’ve got our eye on a couple, a few that we’re talking to, that we hope to get over the line and who we think will strengthen the squad.
“When we get guys in you know they’re not coming to Shotts for the money, they’re coming because they want to play and be part of something decent.”
Shotts will play a friendly against Stoneyburn on July 8, followed by EK Thistle, Fauldhouse, Newmains and Vale of Clyde.
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