Thorley's last game looms for Bully

Stafford manager Steve Bull will say goodbye to loan star Tom Thorley after Rangers play Hucknall at Marston Road in the Blue Square North tomorrow night.

The Stoke youngster has spent the whole campaign so far with Bully's side, becoming one of the shining lights of a promising campaign, which has resulted in the team pushing for an instant return to the Blue Square Premier - with Thorley the matchwinner on more than one occasion.

Under the terms of his loan deal, he must return to the Britannia Stadium on Wednesday morning, making the Hucknall clash his last game for the club - for the time being.

Bully has already expressed an interest in resigning Thorley for the rest of the season when the transfer window opens again in January, but nothing is etched in stone as yet.

Either way, the Rangers boss must say goodbye to his find and he extended his thanks to the 18-year-old.

He said: "Tom has been a good player for us over his time here and I would have loved to have kept him. To be fair, he does not want to go back either, but thats football. These things happen and we just have to get on with it.

"When we signed him, I wouldn't commit the club to a player we barely knew for the season and you can understand the logic in that. As it turns out, now it will cost us and we have to send him back, but that is the way it goes.

"It doesn't have to be the end of Tom's time here. If he is available in January, then I will go back in for him. But after the impact he has had, I don't think I will be alone. Thats is the problem. At this point, me and the club just want to thank him for all of his efforts. He has been great and has a bright future.

"I shall be keeping an open mind the matter and rest assured we are still on the lookout for players of Tom's ilk. We know we need a new striker as well, that search has not stopped. But we want quality not quantity.

"I will keep burrowing away trying to get those better players in."