Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell is hopeful of adding to the Staggies’ squad within the next seven days.
County released Sean Kelly, Richard Foster, Lewis Spence and Declan McManus following the end of last season, while skipper Marcus Fraser rejected a new deal.
Although County have yet to bring in any new faces since returning to non-contact training last week, Kettlewell is optimistic he is homing in on some of his targets.
Kettlewell, speaking on a bonus episode of our Northern Goal podcast which will be released later today, said: “We are speaking to people several times a day and are really proactive – we are firmly going in with offers for players.
“We are working tirelessly on that at the minute. We have identified our key targets and I would be hopeful within the next seven days we might be able to announce a couple of new signings.
“I don’t want to get too carried away, but the way some of the conversations have gone, it suggests we might be in and around that area.
“That will be a little boost for the squad, but it’s also important we identify the right criteria and personality to play in our team.We believe we have the nucleus of a really good changing room, and we need to make sure we pick off people that are prepared to buy into that.”
Kettlewell feels bringing in players early during the summer will be beneficial, as he looks to integrate new faces into his squad ahead of the new campaign.
He added: “The ideal way would be for us to get players in at the soonest opportunity.
“If they are moving from a different area it allows them to integrate into the Highlands and the way of life here, which I think is really important. We would get the best version of a player once they are settled in and comfortable in their environment.”
Kettlewell has identified the backline as an area he is keen to bolster following the loss of Fraser, Kelly and Foster, while the Staggies boss is also keen to improve on a defensive record which saw the Highlanders concede 60 goals last term.
Kettlewell added: “We still believed we had goals in our team which would ultimately keep us in the division, and ultimately that proved the case.
“The evolution of our team, in where we want to go next, would certainly be to iron out some of those goals we lost which we feel were preventable.
“The facts don’t lie, we had the worst defensive record in the division by a decent distance.
“We understand what our deficiencies were and it’s important we try and address that in the coming season.
“It’s clear to see we’re a couple of positions short across the back, so it’s important we go and do our homework and recruit the correct personnel to fit into those slots, to see if we can address that situation.
“We are not making a major drama of it, but if we want to try and take a stride forward next year we know where to start as a collective unit.”
