Gary Bollan will play Darren Hill as a trialist goalkeeper in his first game in charge of Forfar this afternoon, before signing him on a permanent deal when the transfer window opens.
Hill, who was released by Hamilton and has previously played for the Loons, replaces Rab Douglas after the former Celtic, Dundee and Scotland man decided to quit Station Park in the wake of Dick Campbell’s sacking.
“Rab has made his decision,” said Bollan. “And we respect it.
“Darren Hill will play as a trialist before signing in January.”
Bollan took his first training session on Wednesday night and was happy with what he saw.
“The boys worked very hard,” he said.
“Forfar were always a team we got a hard game against when I was at Airdrie. There’s some good quality players here.”
The need to bring in a goalkeeper was obviously thrust upon Bollan, but he will assess the squad at his disposal before deciding if he needs to make any other signings.
“It’s only fair that we allow them to show us what they’re capable of.
“But football’s always a moving picture and if we feel we need to strengthen then that’s what we’ll look to do.”
It’s straight in at the deep end as Forfar boss for Bollan, with league leaders Dunfermline today’s opposition.
“This is a tough league and it’s a tough first game,” he said.
“The boys are relishing coming up against the top team in the division and they’ll be fired up.
“Our first aim is to catch the team above us, and that’s what we’ll be trying to do.”