John Askey’s bid to boost his attacking options may have been unsuccessful but the Macc Town manager still has irons in the fire.
Askey was told he can bolster his squad shortly before last weekend's defeat at Lincoln but hadn’t been able to secure a target man before taking his team to Altrincham on Tuesday night.
“I’ve made a lot of enquiries and we’ve been watching a few players but we can’t afford to rush into anything,” said Askey. “We won’t bring someone in just for the sake of having an extra body, we have to get the right person. I’ve got one forward that wants to come but his club won’t allow it because they’re worried about suspensions.
“We are still looking at one lad from the Premier League, one from the First Division and one from our league, so we’ll see.”
In his backline Askey has been able to retain the services of Luke Waterfall after extending the centre-back's stay for a further month.
Waterfall's absence at Lincoln - arguably a contributing factor in the 2-0 loss - saw Dan Cowan come it at right-back. And while Askey has every confidence in the youngster's abilities, he'd prefer to blood him slowly in order to benefit his career.
"We're having to play people out of position sometimes, which obviously isn't ideal," he continued. "And I don't want our young lads constantly going up in physical battles against big, strong six-footers in every position. If they came from our academy they're taught to pass, pass and pass again. Then they get thrown in a non-stop physical fight and it doesn't help their development."
Meanwhile right-back Andy Halls - who filled in for Waterfall in the centre of defence at Sincil Bank - has been brought into the England C squad to take on Turkey on October 14.
“He deserves his call-up, he’s been terrific,” added Askey. “Some doubted him before the season started but he’s played really well, his defending and his understanding has improved a lot. And he's experienced, because he's got so many games under his belt people think he's older but he's still only 22.”
