Albion Rovers boss Brian Reid says he’s down to the ‘bare bones’ and needs to sign trialists to boost his squad ahead of Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup opener at home to Livingston.
And the Cliftonhill boss says they wouldn’t have taken part in the NL Cup at Broadwood last weekend, had they known how big a problem they were going to have.
Rovers finished third in the four-team competition, having lost their semi-final 2-1 against hosts Cumbernauld Colts on Saturday but overcame Stirling Albion 3-1 on Sunday, while Airdrie beat Colts 1-0 to take the trophy.
Reid says they were missing seven first-team players, and is concerned that a flurry of fixtures could overload the slim squad he has available.
He said: “We had seven players missing, signed players, for one reason or another, so we had to bring a lot of trialists in.
“In an ideal world we’d probably not have taken that tournament if we knew we had so many players out, especially with two games in two days, which is maybe too much, sometimes.
“If we had a full squad it might have been a bit easier, but we didn’t, and nobody could have foreseen what was going to happen at that stage in pre-season.
“But it was a decent enough work-out for us, we got some minutes into players, and managed to get a look at some trialists.
“A couple of them did themselves justice, some others were not quite at that level, but it’s just trying to see what’s what, and if we can offer them a deal that’s enough to tempt them to come.
“There is a bit of talking to do with some of them that we would like to keep – whether we can is another question.
“But we need to get a few signed in before Saturday, because you can’t pay trialists in the Premier Sports Cup.
“We’ve got a bit of work to do this week to get up to speed, and we’ve still got a couple of players missing.
“We are down to the bare bones, but we just need to try and rustle up a few players.
“Some of the young ones from the reserve squad can come into the fray – young Barry Duncan came in, he’s only 18-19, and he didn’t do himself any harm, so that’s a positive to look at for a club and a squad like ourselves.”
Rovers face a tough week ahead, with Premiership Livingston on Saturday followed by a visit by Championship newcomers Cove Rangers on Tuesday and a trip to League One Kelty Hearts the following weekend.
There’s only one more game to play in their section, at Inverness, on July 19.
Reid said: “They’re all tough games but good games.
“As I’ve said in previous seasons, these are good for us because they’re competitive games against really tough opposition, and we’ll see what happens after that.
“The bread and butter is our league campaign, which starts at the end of July so all the preparations are geared up to that.
“But it’s a good tournament. I like the Premier Sports Cup, because we can test ourselves against good opposition and see where we’re at in terms of them.
“But I’m not going to lie – we could obviously do with another two or three players in to boost us a wee bit, because we are very light numbers at the moment.”
Rovers already know they’re kicking off their League Two campaign at Stenhousemuir on July 30, but have also just been handed a tie against Celtic ‘B’ in the SPFL Trust Trophy first round on August 9/10, with Bonnyrigg Rose or Livingston ‘B’ waiting on August 23/24 in the second round.
Reid said: “It’s another game for us and it’s maybe not ideal because we’re a wee bit short on numbers and the games are coming thick and fast, but it is what it is.
“We just need to get on with it.
“If you ask a lot of players they’ll say they’d prefer playing games to training, but you’ve got to try and help the players a wee bit so they’re not overloaded and doing themselves damage by playing too many games in such as short space of time.”
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