Stirling Albion manager Stuart McLaren was pleased with what he saw after the Binos drew 1-1 with Stranraer in their first pre-season outing.

Albion came from a goal down to equalise late on in the closed-doors friendly, and McLaren revealed that he was happy with the performance and result, writes Jamie Hall.

McLaren told Stirling News Sport: “I spoke to the players before the Stranraer match about what we were looking to get from the game. We were looking to get a bit of match condition without picking up any injuries so we ticked that box.

“We haven’t spent a lot of time up to now working on the tactical side but we looked for the players to go out and demonstrate some of the habits that we were looking for from them and I thought they did that.

“We controlled possession for good periods in the game against a decent Stranraer side, and I thought by and large we were very decent defensively as well.

“So I am very pleased with the performance overall. Everybody says that pre-season results are not the be-all-and-end-all, but it’s always encouraging when you can come back with a positive result, so we will take a bit of confidence from the result as well.” The Binos will continue their preparations for the new season with closed-doors friendlies against Livingston and Queen of the South, before hosting Hearts and Oldham, and McLaren admitted he would use the games to fine-tune his side ahead of two tricky cup ties against Elgin City and Airdrieonians.

He said: “It’s trying to get a balance of a few different things, and one of those is trying to make sure that everybody in the squad gets enough game time to get themselves match fit for the cup games and league games.

“Within that we are looking to balance things out and try some different combinations across the back four, in midfield and up front, so we just have to try and put players together where we think they can link up.

“We have quite a few new players in the squad and even the ones we have retained will be undergoing some tweaks to change how we play this season compared to last. So it’s a question of trying to get all those things worked out and get everything out of the games that we can.” McLaren confessed he was still in the hunt for a new striker to complete his squad, but announced that the club had taken on a number of trialists.

He added: “In terms of the final makeup of the squad, it is another forward player that we are looking to bring to the club. We are still looking at a number of trialists in a few different positions and if we become aware of somebody outstanding then we will find ways and means of adding them to the group, but in terms of balance and the options we have got, it is another forward player that we are looking to bring in.

“There will be a few who come in over the next couple of weeks, and there’s also the opportunity there to explore what might be available through a loan signing from one of the bigger clubs, so I’m not panicking or worried about that at this point in time.

“It’s just a case of trying to find that one player who can come in and challenge Steven Doris for his place or even play alongside him in the competitive games.”