East Kilbride Thistle boss delighted to add experience to staff with ex-St Peter's coach

East Kilbride Thistle boss Aaron Connolly says an extra pair of eyes on the coaching staff will provide a boost to the Showpark side next season.

Connolly brought in former St Peter’s boss John Dalziel earlier this month to work alongside him in the West of Scotland Fourth Division this forthcoming season.

The Jags finished seventh in the division last season and the appointment of Dalziel as first-team coach will help the club build on that, as Connolly surrounds himself with as much experience as possible.

The gaffer said: “John was St Peter’s manager, he left about February or March, and we did some work to get John in the door to help us out. He has great experience at this level, he’s worked in youth football for a long time, and has agreed to come in and help us out, so will hopefully take us to the next level.

“We’ve focused a lot on building bit by bit, and we were keen to get an extra set of eyes in, but it needed to be the right type of person to fit into the group, and had the right experience.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 months now, I’m only 32, I’m still really young to be a manager, so the more experience I can get around me the better, and John absolutely fits that role.”

Connolly has been hard at work believing that having the bulk of the squad already in place will help.

He added: “We did a lot of the leg-work from March. Towards the end of the season we put quite a lot of things in place, starting with signings, confirming the squad for next season, so we’re trying to get ahead of it as best we could.

“Hopefully that’s going to stand us in good stead, because the squad is very settled – albeit we’re still hoping to get two or three more in the door.

“We’ve got the bulk of the players