East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy has revealed League One Queen of the South snatched midfielder Reegan Mimnaugh from under their noses, as he seeks three more signings to complete his Kilby rebuild.
The Lowland League side were on course to sign the 21-year-old following his release from League One side Hamilton Accies yesterday.
But Marvin Bartley's Doonhamers - who Kilby play in their first pre-season friendly on Saturday - have swooped at the eleventh hour to persuade Mimnaugh that Palmerston and remaining in full-time football is the right move for him.
Kennedy, who has signed 15 new players so far, said: "We are in the latter stages with a couple of things.
"We thought we'd signed Reegan Mimnaugh but he is away to Queen of the South.
"They came at the last minute and he wanted to stay full-time. The boy is only young so it probably makes more sense for him to try and stay full-time at his age.
"I actually thought we had it done at one point, but Reegan really wanted to stay full-time so that's fair enough.
"We've got some meetings this week and we are getting there with things.
"Everybody is getting to the stage now where they need one or two players and there are not a lot of players in the market, so the competition is pretty high.
"We've always said from day one we want to bring in a certain standard of player at a certain age, so we just need to be patient."
It leaves Kennedy still in the market for a central midfielder, while a centre-half and a striker are also on his wish list.
Former St Mirren and Motherwell defender Richard Tait trained with the club last week, but the 33-year-old is yet to commit to anything.
Kennedy added: "Hopefully by Friday we will have one or two more over the line.
"We are looking to bring in a centre-midfielder, a centre half and a centre forward, then we will be finished.
"Richard came in and trained with us last week. Now he is away for a week's holiday so we will pick that up again then.
"We are also speaking to another centre-half as well so there are a few options for us.
"Richard will want to assess it on his end as well so we will see how that progresses when he comes back."
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