21 up for Raith Rovers boss McGlynn

Two more new arrivals this week, goalkeeper Ross Munro on loan from Ross County and French defender Fernandy Mendy, brought the number of summer recruits to nine.

McGlynn has one more ace up his sleeve – a striker – who is expected to put pen to paper early next week.

That will bring the squad up to 21 players and, for McGlynn, that will mean business is done, for now.

“We will have 21 signed players – and that’s enough,” he said.

“I’m fine with that; I’m happy with the budget and with the work we’ve done.”

Of the 21, three are currently injured, with Tony Dingwall expected back some time in August, closely followed by Lewis Vaughan in September/October, and goalkeeper Robbie Thomson not due to return until January.

“I’m very comfortable with that,” McGlynn said.

“We’re way ahead of where the club was this time last year.

“We also don’t have a reserve team this year, so we’re not carrying as many of the younger ones but, as it stands, we’ll have a starting 11 plus seven subs.”

McGlynn still has the option to bring in further loans but he added: “I don’t think we need any more loan players at the moment.”

One potential issue surrounds the goalkeeper position, with David McGurn unavailable for the opening two Betfred Cup fixtures because of work commitments.

With Robbie Thomson injured, this will mean a guaranteed start for 19-year-old Munro, who has joined until January. However, there will likely be no back-up ‘keeper for the matches against Dundee on Saturday, July 13 and Inverness a week later.

“We can’t afford to carry four goalkeepers so we just have to swallow it,” McGlynn said. “Davie works in the education industry so he can’t take his holidays until the schools are out.

“That gives Ross a big chance to stake a claim.

“We’ll probably just have to go with one goalkeeper in these two games but we just need to get through it.”

Rovers fans will get a first glimpse of the new signings in action on Saturday, with Stirling Albion visiting Stark’s Park in the first of four preseason friendlies.

McGlynn stressed, however, that his team is still work in progress.

“Is the first friendly going to be perfect?” he asked. “I’d be Houdini if it was.

“We might just hit a cracking game on the day but we’ve got a lot of work to do.

“You can’t work on fitness and everything else in a short space of time and get it right for the first friendly.

“We’re using these games to introduce the new players, for their team mates to get to know how they work in a game situation, but there’s also the match fitness aspect.

“I’m delighted with the squad we’ve got going into these games and we’ll be giving everyone a fair chance to compete for a jersey to start the first competitive game against Dundee.”