Exclusive: Two midfielders set to join Vale of Leithen from Penicuik Athletic

Sandison – who took over at Vale in October after leaving a coaching role at Penicuik under-20s – was attempting to finalise the deals on Wednesday, with both players likely to be in contention for a starting berth in this Saturday’s Lowland League clash at The Spartans.

He told The Southern Reporter: “Both the deals should be done before Saturday. Furness comes in on loan until the end of the season and Finnie is a permanent transfer until the end of the season.

"Those lads will give us a bit of bite in the middle of the park, a bit of energy in there.

"They are both good footballers who are comfortable on the ball.

"One thing I felt we’d struggled with this season was keeping the ball when we’re trying to build up an attack.

"We’ve been giving the ball away far too much so they’ll help us in that way, by getting on the ball and trying to make things happen.

"All going well, depending on how they train on Thursday, there is a good chance both of them will go straight into the squad for Spartans.”

Vale go into the match six points adrift of second bottom Gretna 2008, having had their scheduled home league fixture against Berwick Rangers last Saturday postponed after seven of Sandison’s players tested positive for coronavirus.

"The game would have been off anyway as the pitch was frozen,” Sandison said.

All seven players will be available this weekend if they test negative after seven days of self isolation.