McKinnon targeting six more players

Dundee United boss Ray McKinnon wants to sign as many as six more players as his rebuilding job gathers pace.

McKinnon, who has already recruited defender Tam Scobbie, striker James Keatings and winger Billy King, is satisfied with that business but confirmed the arrivals will keep on coming.

He will be working with a squad of 18 first-team ready players and a couple of under-20s players as he aims to take the Tangerines back to the top flight.

With the budget tight in this second season in the Championship, there is no room for error.

However, McKinnon is confident he will get it right and knows what he wants.

He said: “I am happy with the business we have done so far. We are trying to put the building blocks of a good team in place.

“That doesn’t happen overnight but we do have an idea of how we want to do it.

“It is starting to take shape and hopefully we can keep putting the wee pieces together. We want to work with a squad of 18 good players, backed up by a couple of 20s players.

“So we have a few to bring in still. I would still like two strikers, another winger and possibly two midfielders. That means we are still looking at another five at least and maybe six.

“I don’t think we need much more than that but I would like that kind of number. We have loads of targets and we are speaking to people, including clubs in England, about loan players.

“There is a lot going on, even though not everyone is back to work yet.

“Hopefully, everything will just fall into place.

“I know the fans will be looking to see more signings but it is time of year when things take a bit longer to get done. “We will get there.” Meanwhile, McKinnon revealed he will be restricting United’s pre-season matches to no more than three – the already-confirmed game at Montrose on July 4, a closed-door match against Blackpool and a yet-to-be-arranged third game, possibly against Forfar.

He said: “I am trying to keep the pre-season fairly light and I think we might just need three games.

“We had 57 matches last year and didn’t finish until late on. The players won’t lose their fitness after just four weeks’ break.

“We could have had more but we don’t need five or six games.”