Carluke Rovers hope to have a group of new players in place for season start

Carluke Rovers hope to have at least seven new faces ahead of their West of Scotland League Third Division campaign.

Co-boss Paul Davies says at least six of those are nearly over the line, but with some on holiday and others technically still under contract elsewhere, he’s reluctant to name names.

However, two of them are goalkeepers, to replace outgoing duo Dean Wilson and Adam Brown, and Rovers have signed Forth captain Billy Stevenson.

Davies says Rovers want to build on their Conference B campaign last season, which saw them finish 11th after he and co-boss Craig Gupwell took over from Mark Weir towards the end of the campaign.

He said: “We just started back pre-season training on Saturday there and had a few new faces in.

“We will hopefully have six new faces this season. There are two goalkeepers in just now, but some people are still on holiday and haven’t been in yet.

“We had lost a couple of players like James Frame and goalkeepers Dean Wilson and Adam Brown, which are key positions to try and fill, but hopefully we’ve now done that.

“In general, things are going well and we’re happy, but we would still like to bring in a left-sided forward, if we can, and I think that will be us.”

Rovers are back in training on Mondays and Thursdays, and Davies and Gupwell have already organised a packed friendly schedule to get a proper look at their players.

Davies said: “We have games lined up, we play our first one against local side Carluke Thistle on June 25 and Gartcairn on July 2.

“We then have a game against an amateur team, AS Airdrie, and then the Clydesdale Cup has been re-formed and we have a semi-final tie at home to Lanark at the John Cumming Stadium on Tuesday, July 19.

“We’re pretty positive. We’ve only really