IAN MURRAY will continue to bide his time in the transfer market as he bids to bolster his St Mirren squad ahead of the new campaign.

The Buddies boss has completed a deal to bring midfielder Stuart Carswell to Paisley after he was released by Motherwell at the end of the season.

The 21-year-old follows Scott Agnew into the club after he agreed a switch from Dumbarton last week while the likes of Alan Gow and Steven Thompson have also signed on the dotted line.

Murray will take charge of his side for the first time when they face Berwick Rangers in the first round of the Petrofac Training Cup on July 25.

The new Championship campaign kicks-off a fortnight later against Rangers and the Saints gaffer is pleased with the rebuilding job he has been able to undertake since assuming the hot seat last month.

Murray said: “We need players, it’s about getting the right ones at the right time on the right money.

“We’ve got our eye on one or two, one or two that might happen quickly and another one or two who might drag out to the end of August.

“We need to be patient, try and get through pre-season with minimal injuries, get through this round of the cup then look forward to the opening game at Ibrox.

“We’ve been offered a lot of players but we haven’t missed out on anyone we’ve wanted so far.

“One hasn’t slipped through the net but we’ve got to get the right ones and the budget is the most important thing.

“We don’t want to waste our money early doors then see something crop up the last few weeks when we’ve got no money left.

“The younger guys we’ve got are decent enough to help us out in that department and have been quite impressive in the last three days.”

The clock may be ticking to the big kick-off this summer but Murray is in no rush to do deals for the sake of it as he looks to strengthen his squad for the new season.

The Paisley boss released a host of players after he replaced Gary Teale in the dugout and is continuing to scour the market in search of reinforcements.

But Murray admits there are unlikely to be more central additions following the arrival of midfield man Carswell on a one-year deal.

He said: “Stuart is 21, played around 100 games for Motherwell and has Europa League experience.

“He comes with great pedigree. He’s a young age but he’s played a lot of games in a good Motherwell team that finished second in the league and competed for things.

“It’s good to get him. He’s one we had to wait quite a while to get, we were waiting maybe three or four weeks, but we’ve finally got there in the end.

“He’s another option and now we’ve got that position filled he should be our last midfield arrival. Now we need to go and concentrate on other areas.”