Albion Rovers 'ready to announce signings' as boss prepares for Airdrie friendly

Albion Rovers boss Sandy Clark is talking to “around” 14 players for next season’s Lowland League challenge, but says there is a lot of work still to be done as they prepare to announce their first new signings in the coming days.

Clark expects to more or less rebuild at the Cliftonhill club as they make moves towards trying to re-establish a place in the SPFL, but understands their place in the ‘food chain’.

Players they could have attracted in League Two two seasons ago might be reluctant to play in the Lowland League – but it might also be better than East or West of Scotland League football.

Clark says he and supporters will need to be patient, and those he has agreed deals with won’t be identified until their contracts are up at previous clubs at the end of this month.

The Rovers gaffer said: “I’ve spoken to an amount of players, round about the number of 14, and a few of them are definitely completed, some others we still have to dot the ‘is’ and cross the ‘ts’ to get it across the line.

“Some of them have been with other clubs, their contracts go until the end of June, so I can’t divulge anything.

“I’m happy enough where we are. There are a couple of positions, one in defence and one in attack, where I want to sign a couple of strong players, and there’s nothing close with that, at the moment.

“That happens at this time of the year. It’s the ‘food chain effect’, where players want to try and play in the leagues above, first and foremost, and it’s only really when that opportunity runs out that they’d maybe consider playing Lowland League football.

“It’s the same with the leagues below us – they would rather play Lowland League than East of Scotland or West of Scotland, and that’s just the way football works.

“It