Musselburgh Athletic boss Joe Hamill reveals his plans and new goals for next season

The 38-year-old former Hearts and Livingston player wants to mount a challenge for the East of Scotland Premier Division title next term and is already preparing to re-shape his squad this summer.

When Hamill took charge at Olivebank in July, making the move from Haddington Athletic, the season had already started. But he now has a close season to plan and prepare properly for 2022/23.

“We’re looking,” he told the Evening News. “We’ve got players coming in. We’ve got boys who are leaving. Their contracts are up and they’ve been at the club for a wee while. They are moving on. We’ve got players coming in to freshen it up a bit.

“Our aim is to try and get some silverware and challenge for the league next season.”

With two games left, Musselburgh are currently in seventh place but could finish as high as fifth or as low as tenth, such is the compact nature of the table.

The East Lothian side are one of the few teams who have managed to take points from each of the top three title challengers, but they have been on a poor run since the turn of the year, picking up just four league points out of a possible 27.

“We have let ourselves and the club down with some of the performances,” admitted Hamill, who did, however, take some encouragement from his team’s gutsy display on Saturday in the last-gasp 1-0 defeat away to Penicuik. “We’re trying to build the team, so performances like that are encouraging.”