MORTON boss Dougie Imrie says he is raring to go ahead of pre-season training beginning next week as he homes in on making more new signings.

The Ton squad will be back from their summer break in the coming days as the manager gets set for his first full campaign in charge after saving the club from relegation last term.

He is refreshed after a break and fully focused on rebuilding a squad which has lost a number of key players.

Imrie said: "I took a bit of time off to regroup and get ready to go again and we are back in on Wednesday.

"I am looking forward to my first full season, I can’t wait for it.

"I came in during a tough period last season and the objective at the time was to keep the club in the Championship.

"We managed to achieve that and I have got to take my hat off to the boys - I thought from December right through they were superb.

"There were games where we weren’t quite happy but on the whole they were excellent.

"Ultimately it was them that kept the club in the Championship, so the plaudits must go to them."

The manager admits he is expecting a tough renewal as he looks to try and finish higher up the table than last season's seventh-place, with a trio of big-spending clubs joining the division.

He said: "It will be another tough season, with a big team coming down from the Premiership in Dundee and Queen’s Park and Cove Rangers coming up.

"It is going to be a challenge but one we are looking forward to."

It will be a new look squad for Ton after a number of players exited Sinclair Street and the boss is confident he will be able to replace all of them.

He told the Tele: "It is always difficult when you lose players who were here last season or have been here a few - the likes of Gary Oliver and Brian McLean have had a good affiliation with the club over the last few years and Gozie Ugwu was a big player for the team last year, as he was our focal point.

"Gary can play in numerous positions, so it will be a case of trying to find someone of his capabilities and that will be hard.

"Big Brian was a massive miss last season when he didn’t play, so for him to move on it’s another difficult one.

"They will be sadly missed but we have got to rebuild to compete in the Championship and try and move forward.

"We are in the process of trying to get another few bodies in the door before the season starts.

"It is always difficult when starters in your team move on, but that is the job for the staff and myself - to try and identify players that can come in and replace them.

"We are in discussions at the moment with a few players, so will we see how that goes but at the moment I am delighted with what we have in the building.

"To keep Robbie Muirhead with his goals and Cameron Blues with his drive from midfield is good - they were a big part of what we had last season and it gives us that togetherness."

The manager is staying tight-lipped on the futures of out-of-contract duo Jack Hamilton and Lewis Strapp, who remain in talks.

He said: "We are still discussing with a couple and we will see how that goes over the next couple of days."

Imrie moved early to strengthen his defence with Jack Baird and Darragh O'Connor all checking in at Cappielow a few weeks ago and the manager admits he was delighted to get those deals done, with the focus now shifting to other areas.

He said: "We have got two good centre backs in already, the players we have got in are more than capable of filling those roles.

"We have identified players that we would like to bring to the club, it is just a matter of trying to fix the ends together and get it done.

"I think the squad is very good and if we can add a few more to that I will be pretty happy with what we will have for next season."