REJUVINATED Morton boss Dougie Imrie can't wait to get going ahead of his players reporting for pre-season training later this week.
The Ton boss will welcome his squad back for their first tests of the 2024/25 season on Thursday, alongside new recruits Jordan Davies, Lamar Reynolds and Cammy Ballantyne, who will join up with their new teammates for the first time after sealing their respective Cappielow transfers.
But Imrie says that there is still a lot of work to be done ahead of the start of the new campaign and he's hoping that some of that work will come to fruition over the next few days.
He told the Tele: "I'm buzzing to get back to it on Thursday. Even since the first day of the off-season, I've been buzzing to get back out onto the training pitch and prepare for the new season.
"But there's still a bit of work to be done, we're actively working in the transfer market every day, there have been offers made to players and we're just waiting on responses being made to those contract offers.
"I've been there as a player though, you want to bide your time and see what the best deal available is to you, but hopefully we can get the right responses from players that we're speaking too in the next few days."
Imrie spoke to the Tele for the first time since sealing the coup of former Airdrie right back Cammy Ballantyne, who penned a two-year deal at Sinclair Street late last week despite there being interest from elsewhere in the Championship.
He bigged up the former Dundee United youth star's approach to the game and one key quality he can bring to the squad
Imrie added: "I'm delighted to get Cammy in, when I first heard that he'd become available it was something I was keen to go and pursue.
"He's had a good season last year and is an old fashioned defender who wears his heart on his sleeve.
"He doesn't shirk a tackle and can play on the front foot, which is a bonus too. He's got that versatility to his game that we always look for in a player.
"We can't carry the biggest of squads, so having that versatility will be really important for us going foward, but touch wood we won't suffer the injuries like we did last season."
Imrie spoke of his insistence of using his tried and trusted method when it comes to pre-season training. Other teams in the division began their early season schedule earlier this week but the Ton chief was more than keen to try and give his players as extended a break as possible.
He said: "I think we've actually had a wee bit longer off than we had last season, but I don't think it's any different to the last two season,s nor do I think that our injury woes were related to any amounts of time off last season.
"All of the injuries occurred in games, none of them were in training, but the way we've always done it, giving players that break off, is what has served us so well in my tenure at the club. I'll not change any of that purely because I can't predict when a player is going to pick up and injury.
"I can only hope that it doesn't happen to us again this season, but there were a lot of teams who suffered bad spells with injuries, the likes of your Arbroath and Dunfermline."
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