New striker waiting for international clearance

Brechin boss Barry Smith is hoping international clearance will come through in time for French striker Emile Ngoy to play a part against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park tonight.

The 22-year-old spent time on trial with the Angus club earlier this summer and has played in Portugal and Italy, as well as more recently with Welsh outfit Llanelli Town.

Smith is keeping his fingers crossed Ngoy will be available to bolster his frontline against Saints.

The Glebe gaffer said: “We are waiting for international clearance to come through for Emile. He is 6ft 3in but he has a lot of attributes. We are also looking to add one more, a defender, but we are just taking our time getting the right one in.”

Brechin have lost their two Betfred Cup games so far, against Forfar and Ross County, and now have little to play for in Group B.

However, Smith is adamant the St Johnstone game is an important part of his preparations for the first league match against Annan a week on Saturday.

He said: “We are still rebuilding from last season, bringing in players.

“We still feel we are short of match fitness given the amount of players who came in a bit late to pre-season.

“There is never a nothing game and we are always looking to take something from a match. There is still a lot of work to be done and we are nowhere near the finished article. But we have definitely seen progress.

“There have been positives and we just need to keep moving in the right direction.”

Luke Watt is out injured for Brechin, while on-loan Saint Olly Hamilton will not feature against his parent club.