Boss admits recruitment process has been slow

Alan Stubbs admits his patience has been put to the test as he steps up his efforts to bolster his squad.

The new St Mirren manager has already added Cody Cooke, Josh Heaton and Jeff King since arriving at the Buddies last month.

However, the former Hibs gaffer conceded that he would have liked to have been busier since taking the reins as he looks to put his own stamp on the squad.

Stubbs revealed he has highlighted a number of players south of the border he is interested in bringing in before the new season’s opener against Kilmarnock in the Betfred Cup on Friday week.

He said: “The players need to be under no illusions over what I will be doing in terms of bringing players in.

“The players know that standards have to go up again and the squad has to be as competitive as it possibly can.

“If everybody gets on board with that then they will be fine – if anybody is not then it is going to be very difficult for them to be a part of what I want to bring here.

“Recruitment is going well but in terms of England we are finding it harder because everybody is only just starting to go back into training.

“Some teams aren’t back until next week so we are having to be a bit more patient in terms of one or two of the targets that we had identified.

“We are making progress but sometimes you have to be a little more patient than you would like to be.

“I would like to have the numbers that I am looking for in the door already so I could work with them and bed them into the players that I have here.

“But, unfortunately, that has not been the case up until now.”

And with the squad set to return to Paisley later this week following their pre-season trip to La Manga, Stubbs says he has been delighted with the work ethic shown by his players throughout the trip.

He added: “I’ve been really happy with what the players have done so far and they have all done everything that we have asked them to do.

“We know this isn’t an easy time for the players because we have been doing three sessions a day but it is all designed and geared towards their benefit.”

The players know that standards have to go up again Alan Stubbs