Glassboys boss cool on signings

Stourbridge boss Gary Hackett will hang fire on his new player hunt and offer some of his returning players the chance to shine.

The Glassboys chief is scouring the market for new recruits after veteran striker John Williams and Keith Russell left the club in recent weeks, but is yet to make a signing.

And he said this week that he feels he owes it to the returning Paul Danks and James Dyson to hold off bringing new faces in until they have been given a chance to show what they can do.

Dyson made an impressive return in the midweek FA Trophy defeat at Gloucester, while Danks was due to make his comeback today after a series of niggles.

And Hackett thinks those two will be as good as a pair of new signings if they can stay fit.

"I still feel that I need to bring players in but I have both Paul Danks and James Dyson back and fit now and I think it would be a bit of a kick in the teeth for them if I had told them to get back and fit and then went out and signed someone who could replace them straight away," he said.

"Loyalty is a two-way street and I believe the pair of them are good players who will add to our squad.

"They will be given every chance to prove their worth and I do believe they will do well for us."

Hackett was greatly encouraged by the team's performance against Gloucester this week, where the Glassboys ran their Southern Premier opposition all the way.

After drawing the first game 1-1 at the War Memorial Ground they narrowly lost the return fixture in midweek.

"We were obviously very disappointed to go out of the Cup - especially because of the way we played in the second game - but we have to take plenty of positives from it.

"We missed a penalty and I think their goalkeeper was man of the match in the end.

"But we can concentrate on the league now and we've got a good little run going which we need to keep up now."