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Albion Rovers boss Brian Reid hopes to bring in at least four new faces this week as he bids to strengthen for the second half of the League Two season.
Defender Aldin El-zubaidi had his contract terminated by mutual consent on New Year’s Day and Rovers have been struggling in midfield since Jamie Mckernon was released in October.
A loan deal for Motherwell forward Corey O’donnell expired on Sunday, and a similar deal with Kilmarnock for Mikey Mullen is up on January 16, so Reid hopes they can be extended as his search for new recruits steps up.
“I definitely need to bring players in,” said Reid.“i think I’ve got two lined up at the moment – they’ve not signed yet, but I’m hoping to add another two to that if possible.
“I’m just waiting to hear back on a few things, but hopefully we can bring in at least four or five, if we can.
“Nothing is done at the moment but we should have two in this week.
“Big Aldin has left the club and there might be one or two others who leave. Mikey Mullen and Corey’s loan deals are up, so that’s something we need to look at as well, whether or not they’re going to extend it.
“There might be one or two others who go out, so we definitely need to bring in four or five to balance it out.”
Reid’s side has been blighted by injuries and the loss of experienced players like Mckernon and ex-hearts star Ryan Stevenson, who quit at the end of August.
And he added:“we need to replace Aldin now, because that’s a centre-half that we’re short of now, and centremidfield because we’ve only really got Jamie Leslie and David Wilson who can play in there.
“We’ve had to put Callum Wilson in there but he’s more suited to out wide, so we’re short in the middle of the park and have been since Mckernon left.
“We have somebody lined up who will hopefully sign at the beginning of the week, and that fills that position.
“We’ve always been looking to bring somebody in at left-back, but to be fair to Adam Fernie he’s come in there and done very well.
“He’s played the last 12 or 13 games and made the position his own, but we still need cover in these positions.
“That’s another one we are looking at, but I’ve been looking for a left-back for all season, since Mark Sideserf left at the end of last season, so it’s a difficult one. I don’t see many left-backs out there but I’ll keep looking.”
On El-zubaidi’s exit, Reid said:“we just decided it was best for Aldin to move on and find somebody else, and he was happy enough to do that.
“If anybody’s asking, I’ll put his name out, like I have done for a few managers already, so I hope he gets something.”