Airdrieonians manager John Rankin has admitted he will need to be ruthless with his raft of trialists this week, aiming to cut down the dozen who featured in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Elgin City. The Diamonds rallied from a Jamie MacIver strike after 15 minutes to level through Robbie Mahon seven minutes later, but the result was not the priority for Rankin as he ran the rule over a number of players while looking to bolster his squad.
Summer Recruits and Trialists on Display
Four trialists started the match, seven came on at half-time, and one failed to come off the bench. Rankin also fielded all four of his summer recruits so far: Matty Yates, Sam Fisher, Ewan Simpson, and Dapo Mebude. Among the trialists was Canadian striker Robbie Cleary, who was attached to Salford City in the EFL until this summer and played last season on loan at Kerry in Ireland.
Rankin will play two behind-closed-doors games this week to whittle down the dozen trialists before next Saturday's trip to Ayr United, their final pre-season friendly before the Premier Sports League Cup clash at Dundee on July 11.
Rankin's Assessment of the Trialists
Rankin told Lanarkshire Live Sport: "We had a lot of trialists to look at, but I am pleased with the work the staff and the board are putting in to get players in. We didn't have a lot of signed ones in today, maybe only eight signed players featured, and the rest were trialists. It is a big task and we are putting in a lot of work to players who may not be here. The flip side is we are giving the players on show a bit fitter and working in the group environment. Selfishly, we are going to need to cut some and it is up to us to do that over the coming days."
Regarding Robbie Cleary, Rankin said: "Robbie Cleary one of the trialists but I think all of them did pretty well. They were all out there playing with pressure because if they want to win a deal, there is pressure on them and I think they coped with that really well. A lot of trialists are here funding themselves because they want a deal here and I thought most of them did well."
Plans for the Week Ahead
Rankin outlined the schedule: "We have got two closed doors games this week before we play Ayr so everyone will play again. We will then make a judgment. As harsh and ruthless as it sounds, it needs to be done. Then we look forward to Ayr, which is a step up, more minutes in the tank and a game against good opposition on a grass pitch. It is important we test that before we play Dundee because we don't play many teams on grass parks at our level."
Injury Relief and Concern
Rankin's big relief was that he didn't pick up any injuries. However, Elgin were not so fortunate as Evan Towler ended up with a dislocated shoulder after landing awkwardly. He received treatment on the pitch for several minutes before being stretchered off late in the first half. Rankin added: "I'm really pleased that we have got through the first game of pre-season without anyone getting injured. I have been there before when one of your main players gets injured on that first day so that is a big bonus for us. Unfortunately for Elgin that wasn't the same situation. Their player dislocated his shoulder so my heart goes out to him. The only bonus for him is maybe that it is not a leg injury. Hopefully he can come back quickly from that."
Game Assessment
Assessing the game overall, Rankin said: "The first half was probably two teams trying to feel their way into the game. In the second half I would say we were more dominant and created more chances without troubling their goalie. The first goal is naive. We get caught making errors because of poor decision making but that is why we play these games. We make errors now to shake off the cobwebs so that we are better when the season starts. I felt the way we reacted to the error was pretty good."
