Elgin City manager Barry Smith is working to add to his squad ahead of Saturday’s League Two fixture against Forfar Athletic.
City will play their first fixture in three weeks when the Loons make the trip to Borough Briggs this weekend.
Elgin were idle due to SPFL Trust Trophy action last weekend, with their home league match against Stenhousemuir postponed due to a waterlogged pitch seven days previously.
Smith’s squad was depleted for the 6-0 defeat to Peterhead last time out, with Matthew Cooper, Fin Allen, Matt Jamieson and Aidan Cruickshank among those sidelined.
The recently-appointed Black and Whites boss is working on adding free agents to his squad to bolster his options.
He said: “Given the amount of long-term injuries we’ve got, we are looking to add.
“It’s only free agents we can take at the moment, so it’s never easy trying to get guys that are going to be up to speed.
“Sometimes you’ve got to take a calculated risk on players that aren’t up to speed.
“We are talking to a couple of players, and hopefully we can get them in before the Forfar game.”
Taylor nearing return to action
One player who could be back in the fold for this weekend is winger Mitch Taylor, with Smith revealing he is back in training following his efforts to stave off a calf issue.
Smith added: “There’s a possibility Mitch Taylor will be back, but other than that pretty much the rest are long-term.
“Mitch had a problem with his calf in pre-season. He had just come back from injury, but there was still some scar tissue there which was causing him a problem.
“We hope we have fixed it by strengthening it, and a couple of other things to make sure it doesn’t come back.
“Hopefully that’s the end of it. He’s back training this week, so all going well he should be available for the Forfar game.”
Time on training ground for City boss
Although Elgin have been out of action, Smith has welcomed the opportunity to spend extended time on the training pitch with his newly-inherited squad.
City are bottom of the table, but are aiming to build on a 2-0 victory over Dumbarton in their last home outing when Forfar make the trip north this weekend.
Smith added: “It’s not ideal because we would rather be playing games.
“By the same token we’ve got to get the boys working. It gives us more time on the training pitch, which is good.
“We have not had a lot of time to actually bed in everything that we are looking for, based on the fact we only get two nights.
“One of those nights is really fitness work, so you are only getting an hour to an hour-and-a-half to acually bed in ideas.
“It has been good in that sense, that we have been able to do some more shape and things like that towards the way we want to play.
“It’s a terrific facility we are able to use – we are grateful for being given the chance to use it.
“Given the weather, it has meant we have been able to get out and do full sessions which is perfect for us.”
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