ARTHURLIE player/assistant manager Chris Mackie has revealed the Lie will be going with a smaller squad this season to accommodate some of their big name summer signings.

Mackie is convinced that new arrivals such as Ian Nimmo, Ryan Deas and David Morrison will be worth their weight in gold for the Lie this season and propel them up the table.

Manager Stevie Kerrigan and Mackie made a conscious choice to go for quality over quantity this season and Mackie believes it is a decision which will see the squad thrive with every player regularly involved in first team action.

He said: “When we came in January we assessed things pretty quickly and got rid of five or six players. We always had an idea of what we wanted to do this summer as long as we stayed in the Premier League.

“The targets we have managed to bring in were identified really early and we had been speaking to them for a while.

“We’ve left the squad lean at 18 players, including two academy players in Martin Curren and Daryl Convery.

“That way everybody can see a pathway into the team and get plenty of game time.”

To make up for being short on numbers, Arthurlie have targeted players who can play in several positions and succeeded in bringing in those targets.

Mackie added: “We’ve managed to bring in players who can play in different positions. Graham Girvan is primarily a right back but can play centre midfield. Mark Blake can play centre back or left back.

“Ryan Deas is a central midfield play er who can also play wide. We’ve managed to manipulate the squad the way we wanted to so we had more money available to bring the quality of player we wanted to push the club on.

“That saves us two or three signings and meant we could offer a bit more money to the star players we have brought on.”

Mackie impressed on the field at times last season. The 31-year-old will once again register as a player but doesn’t expect to feature on a regular basis as strikers Gary Smith, Darren Gribben and Gary Carroll are likely to feature heavily.

Mackie said: “I’ve got a role where I don’t expect to play every week but can provide back up. That has allowed us to invest in another area of the park instead of signing another striker, who may not play the majority of weeks anyway.”