Elgin City manager Allan Hale expresses delight after goalkeeper Tom McHale signs three-year contract extension at Borough Briggs club
Tom McHale is set to extend his time as Elgin City goalkeeper to a decade after penning a new deal.
The 29-year-old, who returned to action on Saturday after five months out with an ankle injury, has signed on for an additional three years at Borough Briggs.
Manager Allan Hale, who also snapped up midfielder Ryan MacLeman on a contract extension this week, was delighted to get McHale’s future sorted.
“Tom's really experienced at this level,” he said. “He has a fantastic attitude and professionalism.
“He drives our standards about the place and a really good personality to have about the club. He really cares for the club as well, which is really important.”
McHale is in his seventh season with Elgin, having joined in 2019.
The Nairn-based engineer tore ankle ligaments in a match at Forfar at August and was replaced by Kilmarnock loan teenager Aidan Glavin.
Glavin returned to Killie this month after regular keeper Robby McCrorie got injured but Hale expects the 19-year-old to return in February and explained how his City loan is still active.
“Aidan is still a loan player with Elgin. The loan has not been cancelled.
“What Kilmarnock are doing is they're just recalling him back on a week-by-week basis at the moment.
“They've not exercised the option to recall him as such. They've just taken him back on an emergency basis. There's a dual registration, if you like.
“We just need to see how the injury develops with the boy McCrorie. If he recovers as quickly as what they were expecting at the time then Aidan should be back with us within about a month.”
Hale was pleased to announce former Ross County man MacLeman’s contract extension earlier this week.
The 20-year-old has barely played this season, mainly due to a knee injury but could see action before the end of the campaign.
“He's been really unfortunate because when he first came in, he'd integrated himself as a really important player and was really consistent, especially playing off that right-hand side.
“He's a player that we think, with a bit of time and a bit of development, that he can do really well for us. What he needs now is just a run of games and hopefully he can stay injury-free.
“He's had these niggling injuries since he signed permanently and that's disrupted his ability to get regular minutes. So hopefully now that he's back into training, we can find opportunities to get him regular game time between now and then.”
