Michael McKenna believes Arbroath have added ‘a touch of class’ to their ranks with the recruitment of 10 new players.
Lichties moved up to fourth place in the Championship after their fourth straight win on Saturday.
Victories over Morton, Ayr United, Inverness and Airdrieonians have seen the free-scoring Gayfield side net 13 goals and conceded three.
And it’s the impact of the new signings that is impressing long-serving midfielder McKenna the most.
He netted Saturday’s opener in the 4-0 victory over Airdrieonians with new boys Jermaine Hylton, Jay Bird and Leighton McIntosh all on the scoresheet.
🎥 | The goals from today's cinch Championship match against Arbroath. Footage courtesy of Arbroath FC. Full DiamondsTV highlights will follow tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/EVaGPw0erH
— Airdrieonians FC (@AirdrieoniansFC) September 16, 2023
Arbroath were rooted to the bottom after their opening three defeats to Dundee United and twice to Queen’s Park.
But they are flying now that their new players have began to settle in.
“I’ve just checked the league table,” said McKenna.
“We have a positive goal difference which is crazy after we got beat 4-0, 2-1 and 1-0 in our first three games.
𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬📸
3 point Saturday's 😮💨🔥#MonTheLichties pic.twitter.com/P8c6MFent4
— Arbroath FC (@ArbroathFC) September 16, 2023
“We are starting to score goals and look a real threat.
“I said at the start of the season that the players we signed were of real quality and all have a touch of class about them.
“You feel it. The levels are up in training. You have to be at it in every single session.
“No disrespect to some of the players we had last year but it’s a different level now. That’s the reality.”
Michael McKenna praises hard work of Arbroath recruitment team
McKenna has spoken previously of the advantages of being a part-time player.
But despite Arbroath’s best efforts to convince full-time players to go part-time, they’ve had to look further afield to bring in their signings.
It now looks like the hard work from head of recruitment Barry Sellars and Arbroath’s management team Dick and Ian Campbell is paying dividends.
Darren Lyon is Arbroath’s latest capture and their business may not quite be done there.
“The club has worked really hard on recruitment and it’s not an easy job,” said McKenna.
“There are only a small amount of players that meet our calibre and criteria.
“We don’t have the big pool of full-time players other clubs in our league have to pick from.
“A lot want to stay full-time. They can’t be convinced otherwise do we need to spread our net further afield.
“A few of our new signings are players that no-one will have heard of before but they are slotting in brilliantly.
“They aren’t just good players but good guys as well. They are buying into how we operate here.
“That has really helped us in recent weeks and long may it continue.”
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