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One to come

Dave Lawrenson
7/ 8/2008

BURY manager Alan Knill is confident of ending his long search for a new striker before their season’s opener with Brentford on Saturday, August 9, kick-off 3pm.

Knill has fruitlessly been looking for someone to help out Andy Bishop and Glynn Hurst in the goal scoring department all summer.

But his frustration looks about to end with Knill saying as the Advertiser went to press last night, Wednesday, August 6: "I am confident we will have a striker in before the Brentford game.

"I have been speaking to strikers this week and I am just waiting for calls back now. I expect to have some news on Thursday or Friday.

"It is very important to have competition for places up front and, at the moment, up front is the position where we are short of competition.

"I ideally want two strikers but I will probably end up just getting one.

"And, due to the finances at the club, I am looking at loan deals."

The Shakers begin their League Two campaign with a fully fit squad with centre back Efe Sodje, utility man Paul Scott and left back David Buchanan having shaken off their respective knee, dead leg and hip injuries.

And Knill admits to being greatly encouraged by the form and fitness shown by his troops on the training pitch and in the pre-season games.

But, despite Bury being one of the league’s form teams since Knill moved into the Gigg Lane hot-seat at the start of February, the Shakers manager is refusing to set ambitious targets for the forthcoming campaign.

Knill said: "I just want us to be better. This club has had three seasons of battling against relegation and we don’t want another one. We want to stay out of trouble and then take anything that we can get after that.

"Luckily, we haven’t picked up any injuries in pre-season. That is crucial as we only have a small squad.

"I am pleased with what I have seen in pre-season training and in the friendly games. The new players have been gelling well with the others.

"So I’m hopeful of us starting the season well. But it is not all about how you start. During a season you go through ups and downs and you can’t afford to feel sorry for yourself when you’re struggling. It is where you finish at the end of the season that matters.

"We play Brentford at home first. The first one is always unknown as, with the way friendly games are played, you are never sure what team your opponent is going to pick.

"But I expect it to be a tough game. They have recruited well and spent a bit of money.

"We then play Champ-ionship side Burnley in the Carling Cup at home on Tuesday (August 12, kick-off 7.45pm).

"That is a great game for us. They too have recruited well. They have been spending money and it looks like they will be going for it this season.

"It will be a big test and it will be interesting to see how we cope. But I have to say that all of the pressure will be on them as everyone expects them to beat us."