Kidderminster assistant manager Neil Howarth is hoping to unearth another batch of gems in the trial players invited to the start of pre-season training next week.

The Harriers squad return to work on Wednesday with numbers severely depleted, so the club’s five contracted players are likely to be fleshed out by free agents taking up the chance to keep fit for the season ahead.

While contract negotiations continue with the likes of Dean Bennett and David McDermott, the new faces will be looking to catch the eye of manager Mark Yates and his assistant.

It worked well for them last summer, with McDermott, Martin Riley, Martin Brittain and Keith Lowe plucked from obscurity to play their role in 2008/09.

Now Howarth is hoping – at a time when money is tight – it can happen again.

He said: “We have got some guys coming along to train with the rest of the squad, and if we can unearth some gems like we did last summer it will be well worth doing.

“I wouldn’t call them trialists, we do our homework on players and tend to know them anyway. Either I will, the manager will or they will be recommended to us by someone we trust.

“The players that came in last season like Martin, David and Keith we knew already – so we we’re not surprised by their quality.

“We don’t pick people blind and out of the blue, because our preparation time is too important to be wasted.”