Rotherham United and the recruitment aim next week
ALEX Bruce is seeking to make more signings in the next few days as Rotherham United's preparations for their forthcoming League Two campaign gather pace.
The Millers kicked off their programme of pre-season friendlies with a 1-0 win over Parkgate on Friday night at Roundwood and have two more matches coming up - Tuesday's trip to Emley and then a Saturday outing at Matlock Town.
They have been four arrivals so far - including three this week - and Bruce is banking on that number quickly increasing.
“There are a few things bubbling,” the head coach said. “I'm hoping that we can have a few more in next week. I'll keep rattling the cage, keep trying to get a few pennies out of the powers that be. We'll look to keep strengthening when the right characters become available.”
With striker Sam Nombe set to leave and other forwards having departed, Rotherham need fresh faces up front and they are also targeting central defenders and left-backs.
The new boys are attacker Fabio Tavares, winger Aaron Nemane and midfielders Ossama Ashley and Jamie Jellis, and the latter three all have experience of the fourth tier, which is important to the Millers as they gear up for life in a lower division.
Speaking straight after the Parkgate contest, Bruce said: “The new players aren't here just to make up the numbers . They need to hit the ground running. I've said in previous interviews, it's about building a squad that can compete at this level. We've had a good week. We've got two or three in and hopefully there'll be more to come.”
Meanwhile, the club have broken with tradition and not arranged a training camp away from their Roundwood base this summer, although that might change as more bodies come through the door.
“There's no trip this year,” Bruce said. “We're going to work and use the facilities here. We're taking it week by week. Obviously, we need to bring some players in. There's a lot of work to do.
”We have spoken about maybe taking the players away within this country somewhere as a team-bonding exercise of some sort in a couple of weeks' time. I'm just going to wait to get the squad together before we do that.”
Ar'Jany Martha, who was granted time off after being on World Cup duty with Curacao, is due to link up with his Millers teammates on Tuesday.
“He's back on the 14th,” Bruce said. “He obviously needed a break. I'm looking forward to working with him.”