Airdrie boss targets 'five or six' signings before League One kick-off

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe admits he needs "five or six" players in before his side kick-off their League One campaign at Peterhead on July 30.But the player-boss says he won't make hasty decisions just for the sake of it.McCabe pointed to the quality that Airdrie were able to bring off the bench last season, and hopes to build a squad of similar strength.He said: "We’re not going to rush into signing anyone if I don’t think they’re going to improve my squad or at least be as good as what we’ve got.“I think that was a big factor for us last season, in terms of bringing quality off the bench.“But we need a squad size and we’re going to need five or six, anyway, just in terms of bodies.“We’re talking at least a midfielder or two, strengthening in the forward areas and maybe a defender.”Meanwhile, Airdrie have announced the signings of Cole Gibson, Richard van Crugten, Alasdair Spalding, Kyan Gunn and Josh Tran from their academy squad.The quintet are the first batch of signings for the newly reformed Airdrieonians Academy that launched earlier this month, and Gunn has already got off the mark with the second in a 2-0 win over St Mirren on Tuesday evening.Academy boss Alan Gow has signed up the midfielders as he begins to shape his Diamonds Under 18 team and McCabe, who was there to welcome the youngsters to New Broomfield, says that shows a clear pathway.He said: “It’s a carrot to dangle in front of them that there’s an opportunity, should they work hard, to play in a first-team environment.“It’s a decent catchment area in Airdrie.

Why should these young players go to Motherwell and these kinds of clubs when they’ve got an opportunity at Airdrie to be in training with the first-team once or twice a week?“They can be involved