AYR UNITED’s past exploits in the loan market could encourage bigger teams to send their best young talent to develop at Somerset Park.

Boss Mark Kerr believes Ayr have had plenty of recent success by picking some of Rangers and Celtic’s best youngsters and giving them vital first team football.

Stephen Kelly and Ross Doohan are the obvious examples of this, with both bagging a loan move to Premiership side Ross County as they continue their development.

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Both young players had starring roles in their time with the Honest Men last season.

And Kerr is hopeful clubs like the Old Firm will look to Ayr as a place to loan their best youngsters in need of first team minutes.

Although, the 38-year-old has stressed the loan market should NOT be used for the sake of boosting squad numbers.

He told the Advertiser: “When you look at how well Stephen and Ross have done in their time at Ayr, it magnifies the loan market.

“Looking a bit deeper, it’s only one or two who manage to perform that consistently while on loan rather than five or six.

“Doohan last year was like an Ayr United player as he’d been with the team the year previous.

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“Stephen is obviously a very good talent as well. He’ll be tough to replace but when get good kids on loan, they will either go back to their parent club and play or go out on another loan at a higher level.

“Jordan Houston, who we managed to get on a permanent deal, has worked well too.

“It all comes down to money though. Some players are inexpensive and others are a bit more.

“We’ll need to see what clubs are after this season and whether it will require more money or not.

“The loan market works but I don’t just want to use it for the sake of numbers. I’d rather use it to gain the quality of those two boys – which I don’t think comes along too often.”

Meanwhile, Kerr revealed that his recruitment plans are coming along nicely, as he expects to add a couple more faces this week – including a goalkeeper.

He added: “Things are bubbling away. We’re getting closer to solving that situation. Hopefully it’ll be addressed within the next ten days.

“We do still have lots of time to conclude matters though. If it’s the right thing for players, they’ll go for it. But if they’ve got a couple of options it can drag on – so you need to be prepared for that.

“When it starts dragging on, then for me personally, I’ll not always hang in there. I’ll pull out if I think it’s not looking like the right fit or if Ayr is for them.

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