Alloa boss Danny Lennon is closing in on another of his top summer targets as he prepares his side for their toughest ever task in the new SPFL Championship season.

The Wasps’ fans have watched the majority of their favourites from last season move onto pastures new.

But the gaffer has moved to allay any fears by sitting down with Advertiser sport to provide an update on their preparations, his thoughts on the season ahead, the changes he is implementing, the fixtures for the new season and why the players who have departed can help the club attract top stars.

Is there an update on any further transfers coming into the club?

“Although I’ve been on holiday for three weeks with my family, I have been working every day. That work has intensified over the last few days as we look to finalise the fine details on contracts for the players we have identified for our assault on the Championship this coming season.

“I can’t reveal the names of these players, as that’s not how we do business, but we expect to make several announcements over the next couple of weeks.” Are there any trialists with the club at the moment?

“We have a few players coming in on trial too. We had expected to have a French striker here, but he has unfortunately picked up an injury and we are not prepared to gamble on it. We have replaced him with another striker who has played the majority of his career in Italian football and is looking to use Alloa as a platform to impress and make a step up to a bigger club in British football. It’s going to be a busy few weeks, with a lot of dialogue with a lot of people still to come, but our squad is shaping up nicely.” Are you worried by the amount of departures from last season’s squad?

“We had originally hoped to keep the core of our squad from last season. However, some of these players have decided to move on for a fresh challenge. They are all good players and have had no shortage of offers from other clubs. On reflection, it could be argued that the cup final played a big part in their decision. You see it time and time again in football.

“Often when a team that is not accustomed to playing cup finals makes that achievement, the team breaks up at the end of that season for a fresh challenge. When we won the League Cup with St Mirren in 2013, we lost ten of our squad of 20 players at the end of that season. The players that have left, we wish them well, as they have certainly served Alloa well. There are still three players from last year’s squad that we are in with a shout of retaining and only time will tell on that.

Are you still confident of attracting top players to the club ahead of the new season?

“As a manager, you expect a high turnover of players each season. Especially at a club like Alloa, where we generally only offer one year contracts. Playing in the championship against the likes of Rangers, Hibs and Falkirk gives players a great platform to show what they can do. So, it is with a small sense of satisfaction that we see some of the players from last season moving to full time clubs.

“Take Daryll Meggatt for example, moving to Dundee in the Premiership. That gives Alloa and myself a great opportunity to say to players that we want to bring to the club – look what we can help you to achieve.

“If you have aspirations to progress your football career and play at a higher level, we will do all that we can to help you with that. We are currently looking to tie up a few players who we believe have that ambition and potential to step up another level in their career.” Are you looking to make any other changes to the setup at the club?

“Pre-season training started last Thursday and it’s great to get the ball rolling for the new season. I’ve made some changes in the backroom staff, which will bring a different approach to our physio and fitness set up.

“Not that there was anything wrong with the ways we were approaching these areas, but in my experience a change can certainly freshen things up, bring a new stimulus and add a different dimension to what happens on the pitch.

“One of the players we are looking to bring in to the club will also have some coaching duties and our squad will benefit from what he brings to the table too.” Your thoughts on a difficult start to the SPFL Championship season?

“At this stage of pre-season, its exciting to get the fixtures out for the new campaign. However, I don’t read too much into the timing of who we play when, as at the end of the day, we all play each other twice at home and twice away.

“Some may argue it’s a tough start for us, away to Queen of the South, then at home to Rangers. These are two teams who featured in the premiership play-offs last season and probably two teams who would be fighting for promotion to the premiership again. To be honest, there are no easy games in this league.

“These are the types of games that you want to test yourself in as a player and a coach. This is why we fought so hard to stay in this division last season. We want to be taking on these teams and earning points against them.

“We did that last term and it would be a tremendous start to our campaign if we picked up points against teams of that quality at the first time of asking.” Already people are looking at who we play in the last games of the season, for a potential survival fight. I know that’s how we finished last season, by having to win on the last game of the normal season, then navigate our way through the play-offs, but I would love to change that mentality. I know history is a good indicator of how a team will perform. Alloa have traditionally been a yo-yo club, but this season we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory. This is the first time in or history that Alloa have played in the second tier of Scottish football for three seasons in a row. Our aim this season is to achieve a fourth season in this highly competitive league and to do that by finishing above 9thplace. I think we can take inspiration from the only other part-time team in this league, Dumbarton, who have managed to finish above 9th place for the past few seasons. It can be done and it is certainly my ambition that every player at this club goes into every game this season believing that the game is winnable. We want to keep the momentum going at the club and keep writing our own history. “