Friday 8th June 2018
MANAGER Stevie Aitken is aware that time is pressing as he prepares to assemble a new Sons squad for the season ahead, but he’s not panicking. Far from it.
The boss is back from his break in Turkey and has been in conversation with his staff and possible further signings.
And he is quite happy with how things progressed in the last two weeks.
It is expected that further business will be done very soon.
He said: “We are pressing ahead with our plans and our efforts, and hopefully there will be something to again after the weekend.
“It is not easy at this point because players don’t like to commit at this time.
“We are quite happy with the number we have signed this far.”
Stevie also now knows that Queen’s Park, Kilmarnock, Spartans and St Mirren will be Sons’ first four opponents of the season in the Betfred Cup group stages – not necessarily in that order.
But the draw against the Spiders will not affect the friendly with them at Lesser Hampden on 5th July. That match will still take place.
He continued: “Every game in the group will be tough. Kilmarnock will probably be the favourites to win the group.
“Spartans will be a tough place to go and we know about St Mirren from last season.
“The friendly with Queen’s Park will stay the same.
“Gus MacPherson is happy to play it and it is right at the start of pre-season, so things will be different for both teams when we meet in the cup
He added: “Pre-season has been planned in advance and we’re itching to get back into it.
“There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, we will get there in terms of the squad.
“Attracting Bobby Barr to Dumbarton is a good piece of business and to have Andy Dowie and Craig Barr’s experience can only be good.
“All being well, we will announce another addition at the end of the weekend and I’m pretty sure that Sons fans will see the type of player we want to bring in.
“It’s been a hard few weeks as we all come to terms with the aftermath of relegation.
“There are inevitable consequences to that and there is no point in dressing up the financial challenges it brings.
“But it’s all about what we do now going forward. I’m a great believer in being positive.”
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Alan Findlay