Kev in play for no pay plea to stars (From Prestwich and Whitefield Guide)

Kev in play for no pay plea to stars

12:00pm Thursday 11th October 2012 in News By Marc Iles

KEVIN Blackwell admits he will have to call in some favours in order to get the injection of new blood at Gigg Lane he craves.

The Shakers boss brought in half a dozen triallists this week in an effort to bolster his numbers in the longer term, including former Premier League midfielder Bryan Hughes and ex-Manchester City defender Javan Vidal.

Ben Parker – a full-back who worked his way through the England set-up as a trainee at Leeds United – and Salif Cisse, a French-born striker, have also been drafted into training as Blackwell leaves no stone unturned in his search for talent at the right price.

“I’m trying to get in as many players as I can to see if I can strengthen the squad a little bit,” he said. “I’m saying to people now – and I’ve been at Leeds and Huddersfield looking at games – I can play them, but I can’t pay them.

“Once again I need friends to pull off favours. We know we’re very light and (David) Healy goes away now so that’s another loss.

“We’re very short. I can name a bench for Saturday and that really isn’t good enough at this level, for me.”

Blackwell got a huge boost in midweek as his side beat local rivals Rochdale on penalties to progress to the next round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

And heading to Crawley Town – replete with former Gigg boss Richie Barker and ex-Shakers Nicky Adams and Nicky Ajose – he hopes the result can have a positive effect on his side.

“They just need a little bit of guidance and belief,” he said. “If you looked at the game last Saturday we weren’t smart in the first half and it was the same against Rochdale. But that’s down to confidence.”

With David Healy away on international duty with Northern Ireland, Blackwell hopes he could have David Worrall back in the mix for the trip to the Broadfield Stadium after a bout of tonsillitis.