Stirling Albion manager Stuart McLaren was delighted after completing the first of his summer transfer business with a double signing.

The Binos boss has added Forfar’s Bryan Hodge and Elgin’s Marc McKenzie as he prepares for a shot at promotion from League Two.

McLaren told Stirling News Sport: “They were two key targets. We had initially enquired about Bryan in January but Forfar had him in their plans. We are thrilled to get somebody with his experience and quality on board and I am sure the fans will enjoy seeing him playing in an Albion shirt. He was somebody that came on to my radar last season when we played against Stenhousemuir, but by the time we moved to get him he had already agreed to go to Forfar. He is somebody that fits in with the style that I want to play and he is the kind of personality that we want to have around the club. He will be a great addition.

“Marc is somebody who will improve our attacking options. He is great in a wide position but he can play through the middle as well. He has great pace and good experience, and he was really keen to come on board so we are thrilled about that. Elgin finished second in the league and Marc was a big contributor to that, so we are naturally delighted to have him join us.”

McLaren revealed that he is hoping to further strengthen his midfield and attack in the coming weeks as he looks to put the finishing touches to his squad ahead of the new season.

He said: “I think across the back we are fairly strong and aren’t needing too many bodies in that area. In the middle of the park, with the way things panned out in the last few weeks of the season, we have been needing to strengthen and that is obviously key because you can win or lose games with how you control the middle of the park. But if you pick out a single reason why we didn’t get where we wanted to last season it is because we didn’t score enough goals, so the more pressing priority with our recruitment has been attacking players.”

The Binos have seen top scorer Steven Doris depart the club to return to Arbroath, and McLaren praised the former Dundee striker’s efforts during what was a difficult season.

He added: “We all know Steven’s quality and we couldn’t fault his work rate this season, but we didn’t get a high number of goals from him. Getting a higher goals tally would have reflected his quality but sometimes strikers don’t have the best of seasons. Sometimes the best thing for a player is to move on and face their next challenge and I think that is the case with Steven.”

Stirling News Sport also understands Stirling Albion are close to finalising a deal with former Alloa forward Eddie Ferns.