MELROSE head coach John Dalziel revealed South African playmaker Austin Lockington is expected to miss the first half of the season through injury.

However, with a number of new additions to his squad which kicked off the season with a win at the weekend, he admitted he was excited about the season ahead.

Speaking following his side’s victory over Jed-Forest in the Border League on Friday, Dalziel, who admitted Lockington’s omission was “a blow”, said: “It’s a total clean start for us, and I’m really excited about what we’ve got and who we’ve still got to come back into it.

“Sam Chalmers as well is looking really, really good. It was all about getting everybody game time tonight and the same next week at Peebles and then we will hopefully get into the Hawick game with a settled team.” Melrose visit Peebles in the Border League on Saturday, while Selkirk welcome Kelso.

Reflecting on the game against Jed, Dalziel added: “It was a good workout – I think it was terrible day for it but you can’t do anything about the weather, it makes it difficult for both teams. There were a lot of unforced errors but credit to Jed they got stuck in and played the conditions quite well and frustrated us a bit at times.” While Lockington is expected to undergo an operation after suffering an injury to his knee, new signings Sam Pecqueur and Ally Miller scored on their debuts for Melrose.

And Dalziel revealed he can’t wait for Nyle Godsmark to arrive so he can unleash a back three of Fraser Thomson, Pecqueur and Godsmark on the Premiership.

“Sam’s a guy who has been on our radar a long time,” he explained. “He’s come in and fitted in brilliantly in the back three, with Fraser Thomson and Nyle Godsmark, who is with Glasgow at the moment, so we’re looking forward to getting them three together.

“Ally Miller, at number eight, is a really, really classy player and on the field there he showed what he is all about. He’s a big guy, I’ve worked with at (Scotland) U20s so he’s got a huge future ahead of him. He’s a really big, tidy player. He took a little bit of a bang on the shoulder but should be okay.”