Greig McDonald happy to keep nucleus of East Fife squad and backs players to improve on last season

Grieg McDonald has brought an entertaining style of football to East Fife in recent months and wants to keep that going after the summer.

After a fourth-place finish and playoff semi-final exit, his job will be made much easier after the club announced new contracts for a number of its stars.

The likes of Allan Fleming, Jack Healy and Ryan Schiavone are all already signed up for next season.

Last week, new one-year contracts were signed by first-team regulars Scott Shepherd, Stewart Murdoch, Alan Trouten and Connor McManus.

Also signing on the dotted line for after the summer are Jonathan Page, Pat Slattery, Kieran Millar and Reece Beveridge.

🟡⚫️𝙎𝙌𝙐𝘼𝘿 𝙐𝙋𝘿𝘼𝙏𝙀⚫️🟡

After today's announcements we can now provide a full update on the playing squad.

🔗https://t.co/xEBlD3T4Rx pic.twitter.com/Gzz379PWSp

— East Fife FC (@EastFifeFC) May 19, 2023

Sam Denham, meanwhile, picked up a knee injury in the second leg versus Clyde and is still being assessed, while compensation will be received for Aaron Steele.

‘It can get better’

“I’m really happy to keep the nucleus of last season’s squad together,” McDonald told Courier Sport.

“It’s a squad we want to spend time with, we think it can get better.

“A couple of young guys in there, a few experienced players who we trust and then we’ll look to add quality as well, to help us push on and try and have a better season.”

Five loan players, including St Johnstone Alex Ferguson, have returned to their parent clubs and McDonald is planning on using that market a bit less after the summer.

“We won’t be looking at as many loans next season,” he added. “Possibly around about Christmas time we’ll maybe look at one or two.”

Regardless of who joins, McDonald wants to continue the entertaining football they played in the last few months.

“It’s not always possible depending on what your opposition do or the conditions, that type of thing – especially in League Two where these things are a factor,” he said.

🎥Highlights from yesterday's match against Clyde are now available on East Fife TV along with post-match reaction from Greig McDonald, Jonathan Page and Connor McManus
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— East Fife TV (@EastFifeTV) May 13, 2023

“We want to be able to pass the ball and we want to play. I’m not talking about overplaying in the wrong areas and that type of thing, we’ve got players there who like to pass the ball.

“So we play to our strengths and try to give the supporters something they enjoy watching. And I think they have in the main over the last few months.

“We’ll try and keep that going next year.”