Recruitment is an immediate priority for Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley, upon his return to the Balmoral Stadium.
Cove have been dealt a rough hand with injuries and player absences of late.
Shay Logan has been missing with a calf problem while Charlie Gilmour looks set to miss most of the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Defenders Max Johnston and Jack Sanders have also been recalled by parent clubs Motherwell and Kilmarnock respectively.
While Hartley is desperate to add to the group, the nucleus of players he worked with over three years is still there. Blair Yule, Connor Scully, Mitch Megginson, Fraser Fyvie et al; there are foundations to build from.
“That’s the key, the core is there,” said Hartley. “Even when we came in, we had to make sure we had the core of the team that took the club up from the Highland League.
“They’ve adapted, the transition has been easy for them. I look at our squad on paper just now – if we can add the five or six we want to get in, we’ve got as good a squad as anybody.
“We’ve been playing players out of position which sometimes you have to do. We have to try fix that and add the players we think will help us between now and the end of the season.
“I think we’re working with about 15 outfield players, which tells you it’s not enough. We’re working hard to bring some bodies in.”
Work to be done at both ends of the park
Hartley’s Cove teams were among the league’s highest-scorers in the three years he was in charge, between 2019 and 2022.
Cove have had to take a more pragmatic approach this season in stepping up a level but Hartley wants to improve the side at both ends of the pitch.
Scully leads the way for the side with eight goals in all competitions, one ahead of captain Mitch Megginson who has traditionally been the leading marksman not just at Cove but in the league overall.
“I’d like more goals out of the captain!” joked Hartley. “As a team we’ve always shared the goals throughout the season. Mitch and Rory (McAllister) were the headliners.
“We need more goals throughout the team, not just the front players. Then we need to keep the back door shut as we’ve conceded too many.
“We play a system but the style won’t change. We want to play the football that the team have been used to over the period of time.”
Upon his return to Cove, there is an appreciation from Hartley of somewhere he got time to build an impressive side.
While his move to Hartlepool last summer was fuelled by an ambition to test himself south of the border, he believes there was not sufficient time given to him and Young to implement what they wanted to do.
“I know the game now, I’ve been involved in it long enough,” said Hartley. “If you don’t win games then you might not remain in a job.
“I felt we weren’t given the time we should have got. Four of the games we should have won and it’s a fine line in football.
“I don’t hold any grudges. I’ve come back here mentally stronger, hopefully to push the club on again.
“It’s not until you go into a club that you see you have to strip it back. There was so much we had to do. I don’t want to go into too much detail – there was obviously a turnover of players and we weren’t given the time to work with them.
“But that’s football, I understand that. It’s now about the future. We want to push the club as far as we can.”