Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall has insisted there is nothing in rumours that the Jags could be set to sign Rangers winger Jake Hastie on loan to boost their promotion bid this season.
The Ibrox winger has been linked with a move to Firhill this summer alongside Rangers team-mate Lewis Mayo but, despite McCall admitting he is pretty far on in trying to recruit a wideman, it won’t be Hastie.
Hastie was surprisingly named in the Champions League squad for the upcoming qualifiers against Malmo with the former Motherwell winger spending much of pre-season working with David McCallum and the B team.
“We’re short of a defender and a wide player. And maybe even another forward-type player but definitely a wide player and defender,” McCall said ahead of Partick’s Championship opener against Queen of the South today.
“I’m quite far down the road of the wide player. Defender, there are two or three people I’m talking to so it will depend on what we can do.”
However, when pressed directly on the possibility of Hastie heading to Firhill this summer, McCall was adamant there was “nothing in that just now.”
It will be interesting to see whether Steven Gerrard finds a place for Hastie in his match squad this afternoon when the Light Blues kick off their Premiership defence against Livingston.
The competition for places in the first-team squad is particularly fierce and it is more than likely Hastie’s spot in the Champions League squad is more down to the fact he’s a homegrown player.
McCall might be coy on a move for Hastie, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see the winger leave Ibrox sooner rather than later.
Ahead of today’s Premiership opener against Livingston, the manager provided an injury update.
