Naysmith looks to loan market to bolster East Fife’s attacking options

East Fife have been exploring the loan route as they aim to bolster their forward line this month, manager Gary Naysmith revealed.

The Fifers have been without strikers Nathan Austin and Pat Clarke in recent weeks through injury and Naysmith is keen to give himself as many options as possible up front.

“We’ve not really got a lot of attacking options just now with Fash (Austin) still not being back and Pat Clarke still being three weeks away that’s half our strike force missing,” he said.

“We have been working hard in the loan market to try and rectify that but so far we’ve been unsuccessful.”

Austin is nearing a return from an ankle injury but was not risked against Brechin last Saturday, while Clarke is recovering from a complex dislocation of his shoulder and is expected to be back in action within the next month.

Liam Buchanan and Kevin Smith, who was signed in the transfer window after leaving Dumbarton, have been leading the line in the last three games.