Bo'ness United boss Stuart Hunter hopeful of signing trialist striker

Bo’ness United put five past Berwick Rangers last Saturday at Newtown Park (Pictures: Michael Gillen)

The 25-year-old, who hails from Stenhousemuir, departed the League One side earlier this month, having played 13 times in the third tier this campaign. He left amidst the club’s cash-flow crisis that saw a host of first-team players rip up their contracts.

"I’m fairly confident a deal is going to be there,” Hunter told the Falkirk Herald. “We haven’t really put any major rush on it. We know the ability that he has and we know what he will bring to the team. He is someone we have spoken to previously.”

Three of McLean’s goals came last Saturday as he grabbed a ten minute hat-trick in the BUs 5-1 win over Berwick Rangers in the Scottish Lowland Football League.

Looking back on that match, Hunter said: “The wind was howling and it wasn’t a nice day for football. At half time the referee actually had a word with myself and Tam Scobbie (Berwick boss) to say that if it got any worse then he would have to think about calling the game off. Credit to both teams for playing in it.

“We managed to fight against the wind in the first half and that allowed us to have the advantage second half. We’ve been threatening to score a few goals for a while and it was nice to do that.”

The Newtown Park team followed that result up with a 0-0 draw at home to local rivals Linlithgow Rose on Boxing Day and the boss is expecting another tight match this Saturday when the sides meet again at Prestonfield as part of the league’s festive derby double headers.

Ahead of that one, Hunter said: “I’m looking forward to heading over there. I didn’t imagine that there would be much in it and I expect the same again this weekend. It is great that Linlithgow and Bo’ness are back in the same league. In the absence of the old Junior Cup having the derby match is so important for the fans.

"For us to have them back-to-back is interesting and I like the idea of it. Hopefully we will be able to put a smile on our supporters’ faces come the end of the match. It certainly won’t be easy to get the three points and we will need to be at our best.”