New signings to push Salford in bid for play-offs
CAPTAIN Liam Hogan says Salford City are in line for a late promotion push after a ‘rejuvenating’ transfer window, while midfielder Lois Maynard has left the club in a shock exit.
Hogan, who made his first League Two start since early January in the absence of the injured Nathan Pond, impressed as the Ammies extended their unbeaten run to five games in all competitions with a draw against Port Vale last weekend.
The Salford-born defender said: “It’s a good feeling in the camp. The longer we can keep this run going, the better.
“We need to stay in touch with those play-off places, which was what we targeted at the start of the season.
“At this stage, there’s still plenty of games to go and we’re in a really good position now with the improvements that we’ve just made to the squad.
“You’ve seen it in previous seasons, if you time your run well, you can get in there (promotion contention) and it’s entirely up to you then. But the focus is the next game and building on that unbeaten run.”
Salford, who acquired eight new additions in a busy January transfer window, now have two consecutive home fixtures with Crawley Town (Saturday) and Plymouth Argyle (Tuesday) next to visit the Peninsula, and Hogan is feeling confident heading into the season’s climax.
He said: “Even when we’ve had small blips, we’ve managed to turn it round, keep the momentum going and, to find ourselves where we are in our first season [in the EFL], for people looking on the outside, is a good season so far. But for us, we want more.
“We’ve been rejuvenated by the window and brought in some real quality. A couple of lads have come down from Championship level and that’s what we’re looking at now, because we really want to kick on at this club.
“We’re not here to make up numbers in League Two and say, ‘we’re going to sit here because we’ve managed to play in the Football League for the first time.’ We want to push on and we feel, with the games left, we’re in a good position to still do that.”
Meanwhile,
Ammies’ midfielder
Maynard has left the club in a surprise move to join National League Stockport County on a two-and-a-halfyear deal.
The 31-year-old, who first arrived from Tranmere Rovers in 2017, has been an ever-present figure in the Salford side, securing promotion in both of his full seasons at Moor Lane.
Despite making 21 starts in League Two this season, the arrival of Michael O’Connor from Lincoln City, and the impressive form of Jack Baldwin, have seen Maynard fall down the pecking order and deemed surplus to requirements by boss Graham Alexander.