East Kilbride Thistle boss: Squad is bursting with talent, I'll need to whittle it down

East Kilbride Thistle boss Garry O’Hanlon admits he will need to whittle down his Showpark squad as their pre-season training steps up.

The Jags gaffer was able to field two teams of 11 with plenty to spare on Saturday during an inter-club clash, as last week’s new signings Barry Russell, Jamie Longworth, David Sinclair and Liam McLaughlin got a run out alongside fellow recent recruits David Gray, Iain Stewart, Dino Molinari and Ross Kennedy.

O’Hanlon is thrilled with the players he has at his disposal but with him remaining keen on bring in one or two more fresh faces, that means a number of the squad won’t make the final cut ahead of their West of Scotland League Third Division opener on July 30.

The 36-year-old said: “I’d never say never to bringing more players in if something comes up.

“Numbers on Saturday were very high - which is testament to all the boys that want to be part of it here - so we need to try and whittle them down a bit. There’s one or two players still in my mind that we could bring in, but we’ll just need to wait and see.

“There’s a lot there and every player brings something different, whether it be pace, energy, distribution, and up front we’ve got good finishers.

“We are trying to work within our means to take the club forward and create a pathway for the young players coming through.

“The players we’ve brought in over the last week or so are only going to benefit the younger ones with their experience.”

Thistle’s pre-season fixtures kick-off on July 2 against Bonnyton Thistle, followed by Troon on July 9, Petershill on July 16 and Rutherglen Glencairn on July 23 in the Hamish B Allan Centenary Cup.

All matches are away from home and O’Hanlon added: “That’s us had five sessions now, we are back