Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark is delighted to have finally been able to stamp his identity on his squad.

There were times during last season’s miserable campaign when the Killie faithful would have been quite happy to see an entire new team brought in, and Clark has now duly obliged.

Eleven signings were paraded at a manic press conference at Rugby Park yesterday, leaving the reporters present feeling punch-drunk rather than just conventionally inebriated as per the norm.

Clark, thankfully, was able to bring some much-needed clarity to the occasion when he spoke of his excitement at the clean slate that lies ahead, after being in a permanent scrap for safety since arriving at Rugby Park.

“I’m really excited,” Clark said. “There is a different challenge for us this season and all of these players have different strengths that they can bring to the side, so I’m really looking forward to it.

“What has encouraged me has been the eagerness from the boys to come up here so quickly.

“They all had other possibilities and they also could have waited to see what else was out there because it was early in the window, but they showed a real eagerness to come up and sign for us. They see what we’re trying to build and see where we want to go.

“They also see with Rangers coming back into the league and with Celtic appointing Brendan Rodgers that the Old Firm are going to be powerful again and they have the possibility of having Ibrox and Parkhead to go and play their football. That was a big selling point for me to use with the players.

“Hopefully that is me getting my own identity on the squad now. We’ve brought in eleven players, but the two re-signings of Myles Addison and Rory McKenzie were very important to us, and also the players that we have retained as well.

“We have a lot of experience in there as well as those guys with Jamie MacDonald, Stevie Smith, Gary Dicker, Kris Boyd – these boys will be crucial for me and the staff going forward in terms of their know-how, and in helping to push these young lads along.”

The obvious concern for Kilmarnock supporters with such a huge overhaul of their squad is how quickly these players can bond with teammates and gel together as a unit.

No sooner were the players introduced to the press than they boarded a plane for a pre-season training trip, and Clark is confident that it can help the players get to know each other as players and as people.

“I’m not concerned at all about them taking time to settle in,” he said. “It’s fell into place really well.

“We go off to Spain now for a week and we will be living with each other 24/7, so that means that the boys can bed in quickly and get to know each other.

“We can get to know them too and they can get to know us. I’ve got no qualms or concerns about that.

“A lot of the lads, four or five of them, have come up when I first came in to let us have a look at them, and I’ve worked with quite a few of the lads previously.

“It’s not a worry for me, I’m positive that everything will be fine.”