JOHNSTONE Burgh boss Jamie McKim reckons his squad will only need some fine tuning in order to be competitive next season.

McKim is excited about the start of the 2021/22 West of Scotland Football League campaign after last season was frustratingly cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.

And he doesn’t expect to bring in many new additions to his squad, as he is happy with the players he already has at his disposal.

McKim told Gazette Sport: “We’ve had good stability over the last few years and have built a strong squad, so it’s just about trying to retain the players that we’ve got and also add a couple.

“I don’t want wholesale changes because I don’t think we need that.

“It’s just about trying to add two or three players that we need in certain positions and take it from there.

“We do have a wee shortlist of players but it’s hard to find the time to speak to them because of the restrictions.”

The Keanie Park squad has continued to take part in non-contact, socially-distanced sessions in recent weeks, while most other clubs have given their players time off to get ready for the new season.

Burgh’s last league game was way back in December, when they played Lugar Boswell Thistle, but full contact training, as well as friendly matches, are due to resume from May 17, with the competitive action scheduled to get underway on July 17.

McKim plans to use the first few friendlies this summer to give his fringe players a chance to win a contract for the 2021/22 campaign.

He said: “We’ll look to have a couple of early friendlies to give a few trialists and a few guys who we are fifty-fifty about for next season the opportunity to prove their worth and earn a deal.

“We’ll then have a couple of weeks rest and go back in for six, seven or eight friendlies with our confirmed squad.

“Every year, I would say most teams play between five and seven games in pre-season but that’s after maybe a four or five-week lay-off.

“There are some guys who haven’t played competitive games in nearly a year, some a bit more and some a bit less.

“Everyone is different, so it’s going to be a lot tougher and boys will need that extra time to get up to speed.”