Yates looks to Football League

Kidderminster manager Mark Yates has revealed he is again looking at loan players from the Football League to bolster his squad for next season.

The Harriers are currently only working from a pool of 12 contracted players, with Yates stating that he is looking to boost that number to 18 or 19, by the time they kick off their Blue Square Premier campaign at home to Lewes exactly a month today.

A number of trialists are making up the bodies at the moment, with one or two likely to be offered terms, but Yates is keen to test the waters of loaning young players from the Football League, a policy that served him well in the second half of last season.

Two of those loan stars, striker Darryl Knights and defender Luke Jones, have ended up joining the club on a permanent basis this summer after their contracts at Yeovil and Shrewsbury respectively ended.

Such was the strength of their exploits that Yates is keen to see if there is anymore where they came from.

He said: "I am looking at some young players from fairly high up the footballing spectrum, with a view to maybe bringing them in on six-month or maybe season-long loans.

"What you normally find with these sort of players is that they have a good pedigree, as we saw with Darryl and Luke last season.

"All I am interested in is good football players. If these young boys fit the bill, they are the sort of thing that we are looking for.

"There are no guarantees in football but you take that risk when signing any player. It is my job to make that call.

"We need to add further to the squad, I know that. I am pleased with what we have brought in and I want to bring in players of a similar ilk.

"I am confident that when we start the season, we will have the sort of squad with which we can do well."