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Daily Record
Sport
Ben Banks

Hamilton boss states 'we have highlighted certain players' ahead of summer transfer drive with Ireland a potential hotspot

Hamilton boss Stuart Taylor doesn’t anticipate a squad overhaul this summer – but he does intend to dip back into the Irish transfer market.

The 2021/22 Championship season is behind Accies and they are looking to the future ahead of next term kicking off in July.

Taylor took charge last August and, alongside No.2 John Rankin, guided them to a sixth-placed finish after relegation from the Premiership last year.

They are now looking to strengthen their squad, like they did in January when key defender Dan O’Reilly arrived from League of Ireland side Drogheda United.

Ellis Brown, Kai Kennedy and Steve Lawson also arrived in the winter window and Taylor reckons it was a successful month. A similar outcome would help and some of it could be coming from over the water, even if there is a potential waiting game.

When asked if he would return to the Irish market, former Limerick manager Taylor said: “Yes, we will be. It is a country that I have worked in and a country where I know there’s a similarity to Scottish people.

“They are hard workers and grafters. They are honest people. They want to go and prove themselves. There are good players there who want to play here, which is really important.

“The January window is really important as you are going there when the season is finishing.

“In the summer, we are going there during their season. That’s along with countries like Sweden. The January window is a bit easier.

“I have contacts over there and I have had them over there for quite some time now. I trust them.”

The 47-year-old doesn’t believe he will be ripping up his squad and starting from scratch, as he feels a few impressive additions will suffice with good players already at the club.

He added: “We have highlighted certain players and key positions we want to improve in, so we will look and see how the summer goes.

“I think an overhaul might be a bit extreme. There are good lads who are really good players.

“We are realistic in terms of where we are in terms of budgets and different things. We aren’t Liverpool or Manchester City, but we have younger ones coming through. That’s a form of recruitment too.

“We are making sure we can add a couple players to what we have, and can we have that same improvement as what we had from January’s window.”

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