DUMBARTON assistant manager Stevie Farrell has admitted that the Sons squad is still a work in progress.

Since Farrell and manager Stevie Aitken arrived in the summer 18 new faces have been brought in, with two of those going back out last week, Darren Miller left the club by mutual consent and Gordon Smith joined Cowdenbeath on loan until January.

Following Andy Graham’s departure to Ayr, there is now only six players still in the first team squad from last season, Garry Fleming, Jordan Kirkpatrick, Scott Taggart, Jamie Ewings as well as youngsters Mickey Hopkins and Donald McCallum — of those only Fleming and Taggart have started in the league.

Given the turnaround of players, Farrell conceded the bedding in period is still ongoing as he and Aitken continue to search for the right solutions on a game by game basis.

He said: “The reality is we have had to bring in more players than we ever imagined we would have to, when you bring in so many players you are going to get a lot of them right, you’re going to get one or two that maybe doesn’t fit and then you have to look to make some amendments here and there.

“That’s what we are still doing with the squad, we are still trying to get the right balance, the right relationships on the pitch. At the same time we are still trying to win football matches, it is a challenge but it is an enjoyable one.

“It is one we are meeting head on, both Stevie and myself as well as the players, we are all in it together.” One victim of the management teams search for the right balance in their last two games has been Scott Taggart. The full back had played every league game at right back, putting in three good performances but has found himself on the bench to make way for new signing Frazer Wright with Darren Barr moving across to right back.

Farrell admitted the decision was a tough one to make but insists Taggart will still feature heavily for Sons this season.

He said: “It was a difficult decision, Taggs has done nothing wrong. Me and Stevie have always believed that you don’t pick your best team, you pick your best team for a certain game. You look at opposition, do your homework, we study the footage and the reports from our scout Stuart Millar. We study everything and then pick a team which we think can hurt the opposition and where we can be midful of where they might hurt us.

“We spoke to Scott, he knows he is very much part of our plans between now and the end of the season, absolutely.”