JIM Duffy has revealed that he will continue to assess trialist defender Jack Iredale ahead of the new Championship season.

The Greenock-born Australian defender has been training with Ton recently and came on as a sub against Turriff United in last weekend’s 6-1 friendly win over the Highland outfit.

Duffy is an admirer of the former Perth Glory centre-half but, no deal has been struck to sign the 21-year-old as of yet.

And the manager insists he’ll take his time before making any decision on Iredale’s future at Cappielow.

He told the Tele: “Jack Iredale has certainly got ability. He’s a natural defender and is someone we’ve had a chat with and we’ll make a decision on that one over the next few days.

“At the moment I don’t want to overload that defensive area but by the same token we have to make sure that we give ourselves a wee bit of cover. 

“I’ve spoken to Jack but at the moment there will be nothing imminent, nothing at this moment in time. We’ll have him back in again next week and we’ll continue to assess him.”

Meanwhile, Duffy has also rubbished rumours linking the club with French striker Dylan Bikey, who was released by Hearts at the end of the season and previously played for Stirling Albion.

He said: “He’s never been involved in a closed-doors game, he’s never been down here. I don’t know the boy, I know who he is, but he’s never been in here for a day, I’ve never spoken to him or anything like that.”