John Goes Early

Lee Cox, Matt Lecointe, Luke McCormick, Curtis Nelson, Reuben Reid, Deane Smalley, Nathan Thomas and Paul Wotton have all signed on for the 2014-15 SkyBet League 2 campaign, along with first-year pros River Allen and Aaron Bentley.

However, John has not finished adding to his squad before the players report back from pre-season training on July 2, and has come close to doing so a couple of times.

“I’m still trying to chase one or two other people,” he said. “It is defensive areas I’m looking at and I’m working hard to get a couple in. 

“It’s not been easy. I had two players more or less ready to have their medical but, at the last minute, unfortunately for us, it’s not happened.

“We are trying to get the players in early so they come in and start pre-season all together, and it’s disappointing to get let down when you’re so close, but that’s part and parcel of football.

“There are lots of players out there who leave things until the last minute but I would like to get our ship in order and fill the areas that need filling. 

“Then everyone knows where they are and we can hopefully hit the ground running on the first day of pre-season – that’s when the new players get to know the players who are already here; we’re all here together and we work hard to get ready for the games. It’s important we get our shape and get to know who’s who then.”