"I'm delighted with the recruitment we have done and we have not finished yet," Rice said.

"I'm still looking for two or three more. Two or three will come in and two or three will leave.

"It's taken a while to gel, don't get me wrong. There are a lot of new players, a lot of young players, different ideas, a different way of playing. But we are getting there slowly but surely.

"One thing that's not changed is the spirit. You saw that last Saturday at Airdrie, played poorly in the first half, 2-0 down, and won it in the 90th minute.

"So the spirit is there, we just need to combine the two things. It's going to take a little bit of time but we haven't got time, we need to go on Saturday. So we are nearly ready."

Rice is hoping to avoid a scrap at the bottom.

He added: "I don't want us to be in a relegation fight as we have been over the last few years.

"I obviously want us to pick up as many points as possible but I'm realistic enough to know where we lie in the pecking order.

"I just want us to be better than we were last year, in all aspects.

"My hopes for the season, realistically, stay in the Premiership, finish in a better position than last year, score more goals, concede less goals, win more games, simple as that."