Quick-fix trio could stay on
H&Y UNITED
HAYES & Yeading United jointboss Paul Hughes is hoping to extend the stay of his trio of loan signings until the end of the season.
Hughes has brought in both centre-back Wes Parker and midfielder Soloman Sambou from Wealdstone (see right), as well as right-back David King from Hemel Hempstead.
Parker is a stalwart of more than 250 games for the Stones, while Sambou is a recent arrival there, having dropped as far as Bedford Town in the Southern League after leaving Fulham.
King meanwhile, who can also play on the right wing, has featured for Boreham Wood and Oxford City after starting out at MK Dons as a youngster.
Hughes said: “They are all initial one-month loan deals which we will be hoping to extend if all goes well. Solomon has been out of the game for some time and needs games, while Dave can play anywhere down the right-hand side and gives us the option to go three at the back.
“Wes is a fantastic capture and will bring experience to the back four. He needed to get games, and while he hasn’t played for us yet, he’s been training with us for a few weeks and looks like he will be a huge asset for us.
“We’ve got a good back four now but Darren Locke has pulled his hamstring – although we’re hoping to have him back this week – and Tom Broadbent has been called up by the army to South Africa. We don’t expect to see him until the end of January.
“We want to play expansive attacking football, but we’ve been caught out when teams counter-attack us, so we need some experienced heads at the back, like those we have brought in, to stop that happening.”
While United’s game at Dorchester Town was called off due to a frozen pitch on Saturday, Hughes was confident last night’s (Tuesday) planned fixture at Weymouth would beat the freezing conditions due to the superior facilities there.
United will then host Kettering Town at Beaconsfield SYCOB on Sunday, kicking off at 1pm, followed by a League Cup quarter final against Chalfont St Peter next week, although the date and venue is yet to be confirmed for that match. GORDON Bartlett is weighing up a move for another striker after learning top scorer Elliot Benyon will be out for at least a month with a dislocated shoulder, writes Tim Street.
The Wealdstone boss has already turned down a number of options as he didn’t feel they were the right fit for the club.
And if nothing materialises before Saturday’s trip to Dartford, he will take a chance on either Jonny Wright or Omar Koroma to lead the line.
Bartlett said: “Elliot just slipped over – it was not a football-related incident – and will be out for four to six weeks, which is not ideal. I spoke to three or four strikers last week but chose not to do it – they need to be the right player.
“Jonny and Omar have been playing out wide for us this season, but if last Saturday’s game had not been postponed, one of them would have been up front.
Something may happen by this Saturday but if not, I’m confident the players we have can do the job.”
Bartlett did, in fact, make a triple swoop after casting his eye over potential signings in last week’s Middlesex Senior Cup win at Harrow – and even though two of them are front men, none are ready for first-team action yet.
Former QPR, Oldham and Oxford striker Josh Parker, ex-Fulham trainee Soloman Sambou and Adam Francis, son of former England star Gerry, will instead get another chance in next Tuesday’s Middlesex Charity Cup tie at CB Hounslow United. Sambou, meanwhile, was immediately loaned out to Hayes & Yeading United (see left).
Bartlett said: “None of them are match-fit – Josh has not played since July – so we need to get them games and get them fit. We’re not expecting them to play in the immediate future but they could be important in a few weeks’ time.
“We’ve not got a reserve side, but we can play them in the county cup games. Don’t get me wrong, I want to win these cups, but I will still make 10 changes against Hounslow as we have one hell of a run coming up and we need to get these players fit.
“It’s a calculated risk.”