COWDENBEATH boss Gary Bollan hopes to have news soon on the start of the construction of the squad which he intends will lift the hopes of the fans for the new season.

The manager has begun talks with the players he wants to keep aboard from last season and has also been speaking to several players he would like to see wearing the Blues' strip for a campaign which he wants to see lift the club back up the Ladbrokes League 2 table.

The dramatic win over Cove Rangers saw Cowden survive the play-off with non league opposition for a second successive season, but he stresses that is not good enough for a club with a 113 year membership of the Scottish League.

He said this week: "All that has happened over the past two seasons is not really good enough for a club of Cowdenbeath's status.

"Having to win two play-offs to retain league status is something that a club of Cowden's history should not have to endure and I hope that next season we can see performances that see us looking at the other end of the table.

"To do that we have to improve in all areas of performance. Our lack of goals has been well documented but we also conceded too many soft goals, especially at home, and that is something we have to sort out too.

"I would like to keep a number of the players we had last season aboard, for their performances were a lot better than the results suggested and I am sure they can help us build a solid base.

"We also have a number of targets who would give us the sort of quality we are looking for and hopefully over the next week to 10 days I will have some good news for fans."

He is speaking to both goalkeeper Dave McGurn and centre-back Bryan Gilfillan who he feels have the experience and knowledge to help him construct a rearguard which will be very mean next season.

Added Mr Bollan: "These two did superbly for us in the run-in and play-off games and I hope that they will join us for the new campaign.

"We are seeking improvement on a significant scale and what we need to get is a winning mentality.

"That comes from getting good results consistently and when I look at last season Montrose began to string together superb runs of results which gathered a lot of momentum for them and ultimately it took them to the title.

"We need that sort of momentum to propel us up the table and the top four has to be the target we want to set."

The manager hopes to have a number of the current squad putting pen to paper and new signings to report on soon.