Coleman hopeful of strengthening
ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman remains hopeful of adding bodies to his squad over the coming weeks as he looks to take full advantage of the January transfer window.
The Reds have utilised the loan well so far this season, but have now seen some of those loan players return to their parent clubs.
Coleman still hopes to maybe bring some of them back to the Wham Stadium, and has also revealed other areas that need strengthening.
“We are not too sure about Connor Hall and Michael Ihiekwe at the moment, we are in discussions with their clubs,” he told the club’s official website.
“We knew Nick Anderton was going back to Blackpool a couple of weeks ago so that makes left back a priority in January. Ben Richards-Everton has covered there and he is a great lad but, by his own admission, he is not a left back.
“Will Wood is coming back and he has been exposed to game time so he might be an option.
“I like Matty Platt and he has a good future in the game, and I believed he would get more game time in the second half of the season, but he was a victim of the loan system and has gone back to Blackburn too.”
One player that will be remaining at Stanley for the rest of the season is midfielder Dan Barlaser after he extended his loan deal from Newcastle, and Coleman is glad to have him.
“Dan is now confirmed until the end of the season which is a boost for us. We chased Dan last season but Newcastle felt he might not get a lot of game time with us and they were probably right as we were starting to fly and had a settled side,” he said.
“He went to Crewe and didn’t play a lot but he backed himself to come here in August knowing it would be difficult to oust Scott Brown, Seamus Conneely and Liam Nolan.
“But Dan has done well and I don’t think anyone would have dreamt Sam Finley and Dan would be the midfielder pairing for most part of the season.”