NEW Port Glasgow manager Stevie Wilson says the groundwork for next season is well underway - despite uncertainly over which league they will be playing in next term.

The ex-Ardrossan Winton Rovers boss was appointed last month and has wasted no time in rebuilding for next season.

Wilson is hoping to keep the core of the Port squad together for his first campaign in charge and has a four-man transfer wishlist ahead of the new season.

He says the top priority is hitting the ground running after the disappointing end to the season which saw the Undertakers finish 10th in the West of Scotland League Conference B.

He told the Tele: "I have spoken to the majority of the boys, not all of them are staying, but I do want to try and keep the core group there.

"Then we will be adding about three or four of our own guys who we want to come in.

"Hopefully we will add into the new management team as well, we are looking forward to getting going.

"Preparations have started and are well underway. We have around 13 or 14 roughly signed for next season which is a great start, and then we will be inviting boys in for pre-season.

"We are well on the road to getting back and as I said we want to hit the ground running when the season starts.

"The response we have had has been unbelievable and the committee have been excellent.

"The supporters have been brilliant and we have had loads of nice messages and the existing players were all very helpful.

"I have spoken to all of them now, and the committee have bent over backwards for us to make sure we have everything in place going forward.

"A lot of the sponsors I have spoken to as well. It feels as if I am in with the bricks now in a short space of time.

"I can’t wait to get going now to be honest."

Wilson admits putting plans into place has been complicated with the uncertainty over which tier of the West of Scotland Football League set-up they will playing in next term.

The Undertakers won't know for certain until the Lowland League play-offs are done and dusted at the end of this month.

But Wilson is sure they will be in for a challenging campaign regardless of the opposition they are up against.

He said: "We are still not 100 per cent sure exactly what league we are going to be in, which is very annoying and frustrating.

"If Darvel don’t manage to get through the Lowland League play-offs and don’t go up and they stay in the division they are in at the moment, then we could potentially drop into the third division.

"If they make it into the Lowland League then we would go into division two. We won’t know our fate until around June.

"Whatever conference we are going to be in, it is going to be very difficult.

"If we go into that second division there are going to be some top teams in it, and even if we go into that bottom division there are some good clubs there as well.

"You know what it is like with that bottom division, everyone is scrapping to get out of it.

"We know we're going to get a fight every week down there, we won’t be making any crazy predictions.

"We just need to concentrate on ourselves."

Wilson says the Port players felt they underachieved in Paul Coyle and Eddie Walton's final season in charge.

The new gaffer believes a change in direction can give the club a lift as they look for a big improvement in 2022-23.

He said: "I think they just wanted to get the season over with.

"Speaking to the committee and some of the players, they felt they should have done a bit better, but these conferences are really tough.

"The club is looking for a change.

"It is just a case of freshening it up."