Ian Murray has admitted Raith Rovers are still in the market for a striker – and have the budget remaining for the right one.
But he is adamant they will be content with their current options if the summer transfer window closes without another fresh face in attack.
The Stark’s Park outfit appear to have recruited well ahead of Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup kick-off away to Stirling Albion.
Defence has been strengthened with the arrivals of Callum Fordyce, Kieran Freeman, Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson.
Further forward, Shaun Byrne has turned his loan from Dundee into a permanent move and youngsters Lewis Gibson and Kai Montagu have been added to the squad.
However, with Zak Rudden having returned to Dundee after his loan, which was to replace Jamie Gullan following his departure in January, a central striker remains on the shopping list.
Lewis Vaughan is also currently nursing a groin problem, meaning Jack Hamilton and Callum Smith are Murray’s only options for the number nine berth.
“It’s really slow at the moment,” said Murray of the transfer market. “Nothing’s jumped out at us yet that we’ve felt we’ve missed out on or not.
“We want to strengthen some areas and bring in some more competition, but at the moment we’re really, really quiet.
“But we’re also really happy with the squad we have and the signings we’ve made.
‘You can never have too many’
“We feel like we’re in a position where, I wouldn’t say we’re ahead of the curve, but we’re certainly ahead of where we were last season.
“Having said that, I think most clubs are looking for a striker. You can never have too many. It is an area of the pitch we want to try to strengthen.
“On the flip side of that, we’ve had a really good chat as a staff and we’ve got Lewis Vaughan to come back and Jack Hamilton and Callum Smith.
“We’re really happy with them and if we go into the end of the window and that’s what we have then that’s fine.
“We have to give these guys full trust, we know how good they can be.
“So, unless someone we really, really like comes up then we’ll be fine.
“But we are in the market in that sort of area of the pitch. And we are in a position where we haven’t spent all our money just yet.”
Raith have enjoyed a draw with East Fife and wins over Montrose and Inverness Caley Thistle in their warm-up games.
But they were dealt a blow when a bounce game with Annan Athletic was called off on Tuesday. And preparations were then further hampered by illness.
However, Murray is confident his squad is ready for their trip to Forthbank to take on newly-relegated League Two side Stirling.
Murray: ‘It wasn’t ideal’
“It wasn’t ideal,” added Murray. “The Annan game was cancelled quite late but these things happen in pre-season .
“But it’s not going to disrupt us too much. We just get on with it.
“We had a wee bit of sickness in the squad at the start of the week as well. A few boys were laid low by that.
“We had to keep an eye on that and make sure they were alright. And we didn’t all train until Thursday. But everybody’s fine now.”
Meanwhile, Liam Dick is suspended, Vaughan is out and Paul Hanlon will be assessed on Saturday morning after complaining of ‘tightness’.
