Sauchie boss Fraser Duncan says he is delighted with the way his side are looking ahead of the new MacBookie.com East Super League season.

It has been all change at Beechwood Park this summer with a number of arrivals and departures but the new look side have hit the ground running with back to back wins over Irvine Meadow and Stoneyburn Juniors and the gaffer is now looking to bring through some of the younger players and give them their chance to shine.

Duncan told Advertiser sport, “We have had quite a bit of movement this summer at the club and some that we didn’t see coming. We have lost Bryn Halliwell who has left to focus on his job which we have to respect and we wish him well because he has been a great servant for us.

“Tony Stevenson has left to join Petershill while Alan Comrie and Gary Carroll have both left the squad also. I see this year as more of building stage for us with a lot of younger players coming through.

“We also have a new board at the club now who will want to take the club in a new direction financially.

“I am keen to develop some of the younger lads through the 19s and 21s and then give them their chance at the Junior level. We have added players to the squad as well though, we have already added David Morrison and now we have brought Danny Ashe, Darren Dolan and Steven Dolan in too as well as promoting three of our U21 players to the first team in Craig Martin, Stuart Love and Darren Carroll.

“We are also still looking to add to the squad because we are still a little light in terms of numbers and so I would still like to add competition in one or two positions. We have a few on trial and hopefully we can do something on that front in the coming weeks.” Duncan has been delighted with the performance of his side so far as they recorded a 1-0 win over Ayrshire giants Irvine Meadow last weekend before hammering Stoneyburn 4-0 at Beechwood Park on Monday night.

The Sauchie gaffer revealed he has enlisted the help of a sports scientist to help his side during their pre-season campaign and he believes their hard work is already starting to pay off.

He said, “The players have done really well in our fitness sessions. We have had the help of a local sports scientist from Tullibody and he has already made a difference with the squad.

“They did come back pretty fit to be fair to them because they only had a few weeks off because of the lateness of the cup final - so they are straight back into it and looking sharp.

“The energy in the team is really high, we are a very hard working side and I thought that was key to the win over Irvine Meadow last weekend but then Jinky scoring a 48-yard free kick certainly played a part too.

“That win was huge for us in terms of confidence and belief because of the players Irvine have a their disposal is quite frightening but it just shows you what you can achieve with hard work and graft.

“The Stoneyburn game was a good run out as well, we scored some good goals and you can see some of the match sharpness starting to come back.” The 31-year-old boss also revealed that the club might still have former Hearts and St Johnstone star Collin Samuel in their side for the start of the new season but admits it will likely be a short lived run for the veteran striker this time around before he departs for his home country of Trinidad.

Duncan added, “Collin Samuel is training with us at the moment and he will probably start the season with us but at this stage we are not sure how long he will be with us as he is due to go home to Trindad at some stage to start a new job there.

“But it is great for the club to have him in the meantime because we know the quality he brings.”