Paul Lawson believes Formartine United can cope next season without the experienced players they have lost.
The Pitmedden outfit have allowed Highland League stalwarts Kevin Main, Craig McKeown, Conor Gethins and Garry Wood to leave.
Despite their departures, Lawson says he is happy with his squad and believes there are younger players at North Lodge Park who can take on bigger roles next season.
When asked if he was looking to add to his squad, Lawson said: “We’re still looking to see what is available.
“I’m not desperate to get anybody in, but we have lost a few players.
“I was looking to trim the squad size anyway and we’re not desperate to bring anybody in.
“But, if somebody becomes available that we think can improve us, then we’ll go after it.
“It will give scope for some of the younger ones to step up and be counted.
“There are guys here who we think can do that, but it’s up to them.
“There are guys who have been here for a few years as well, so it’s nothing new to them.
“We’ve lost a lot of experience and a few big characters. I’m not openly trying to replace them and we’re maybe looking to go down a different route.
“But ultimately I’m looking for the players that are already here to step up and replace them.”
Improvements needed to reach top
Lawson wants Formartine to be challenging at the top of the Highland League next season.
It’s something that has been expected of United for a number of years, however, the North Lodge Park boss says they will need to improve to make that happen next term.
Formartine finished sixth in the 2019-20 campaign which was cut short 14 months ago because of the pandemic, while in the 2018-19 season they finished fourth.
Lawson added: “As a club for a number of years we have always been labelled as a team that will be up there challenging.
“I want to be in charge of a team that does that, but we have improving to do going on previous performances in the league.
“We’ve had good cup runs and have got to finals and won trophies.
“We want to be up there challenging in the league, but ultimately last year there were four or five teams better than us over the course of the season.
“We have to improve on that if we want to be taken seriously.
“Within ourselves we believe we have the squad to do that, but it’s about putting performances out on the pitch.”
