Arbroath boss Dick Campell is putting all his efforts into bringing new players to the club ahead of another tilt at the Championship.
The fixtures for the 2022/23 season were revealed on Friday, handing the Lichties an away trip to Ayr United on the first day of the season.
Last year’s second tier runners-up will then host Inverness before visiting nearest rivals Dundee.
Focus on getting new Arbroath players
Campbell is relishing the challenge of the new campaign, but says his main priority right now is adding to his squad.
“There are no complaints over the fixtures,” Campbell told Courier Sport.
“We’ve got four out of the last six games at home.
“It’s fascinating to think we finished above all of the teams there last season. It brings home how good a season we had.
“But we need to get players.
“I’m happy with the players that I’ve signed and I’ve got a few fingers in different pies but I’m needing another four or five before the season starts.”
Pre-season well under way
Campbell has brought in three players already, bringing his squad up to 16.
The Lichties gaffer also has an attacking midfielder training with his side, who have begun pre-season training, albeit with some players still missing.
Campbell will run the rule over his trialist, who has come up from England, over the next couple of weeks.
“Half of the players are still on holiday,” Campbell said. “We are part-time, we don’t own them.
“Their work dictates when they get holidays. They’ve got families and if you’re a school teacher, you don’t get holidays until the end of June.
“We start on July 9, my players are only getting a few weeks of a break. We’ll be using the League Cup group section to build up their fitness.
“As they’ve only had a short time off it wasn’t like they were going to come back overweight or anything.
“When I played, it was about 14 weeks – you could come back a stone heavier.”
Arbroath fixtures: 2022/23 Championship season starts with west coast away trip
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