Renfrew co-boss Martin Ferry has conceded that the club will find it difficult to replace their captain Kieran Healy after he completed a move to West Region Premiership champions Auchinleck Talbot over the weekend.
Healy, 25, had come through the club’s U21 set-up before becoming a mainstay in Ferry and Colin Clark’s side with a number of impressive displays in the Premiership last season catching the eye of Talbot.
Speaking to Gazette Sport, Ferry revealed that, despite the difficulty that will come with replacing Healy in the coming weeks, he was delighted to see his player secure the move.
“Kieran has signed for Auchinleck Talbot and we’ll certainly miss him,” Ferry said. “It’s good for him and good for the club, though, that this kind of move can happen.
“It shows that there’s a path here for players to move onto bigger and better things.
“Kieran is a gem of a boy who came up from our under 21s and flourished. We’ll miss him but we’ve told him to enjoy it and take his opportunity. He was a big part of our club and him being made captain so young shows that, but myself and Colin have been working hard to fill the big gap he will no doubt be leaving.
“We’ve got a few ideas and a few things we’re working on. We’ll hopefully have enough cover to deal with the loss of Kieran.
“One player we have been able to bring in is Sean McCall from Rutherglen Glencairn. He’s a big central defender who can also play right-back which will help us a lot in terms of cover.”
With pre-season training now underway at Frew, Ferry admits he has been surprised by how sharp his squad are looking this early in the summer with a host of pre-season friendlies lined up in the coming weeks.
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He added: “We’ve had seven sessions so far and they’ve all done really well actually. I think the attitudes of players has changed these days in that they all keep themselves fit and in the gym even during their breaks.
“We’ll have our first friendly on Saturday, July 13 against Winter Rovers then we’ll play Wishaw at home Wednesday, 20 before Yoker away at Holm Park on Saturday, July 20.”
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