Longridge Town boss looks to strengthen his squad

With last midweek’s NWCFL Premier Division game at Ashton Athletic falling foul of the elements and a free Saturday last weekend, Ashcroft gave his players a week off.

They return with a trip to Avro this weekend in a division where only 13 points separate second-placed Skelmersdale United and second-bottom Padiham.

Ashcroft said: “We had one or two niggly injuries from the weekend before so, after Tuesday night was off, I gave them the week off.

“We’re training on Tuesday and Thursday because we’re back on it with a difficult game against Avro.

“They have been competitors for the last two or three seasons but they got beaten 4-0 by Ashton at the weekend, so it just shows anyone can beat anyone in this league.”

The hope is a new arrival will be in place this weekend to fill the gap created by Brandon Lee’s departure to Macclesfield FC.

The wing-back joined the league leaders at the end of last month, moving for an undisclosed fee after a little more than a year with Town.

Signing youngsters, nurturing them and seeing them leave has become second nature for the Town boss.

Ashcroft said: “I was gutted to see him go but I’ll never stand in anyone’s way and he’s gone to a club with 3,000 watching him every week.

“The club made a bit of money and we’ve got a pre-season friendly against them as well, so we’ve done alright out of it.

“Bringing in young players, developing them and watching them move on is something I’ve been doing for 19 years now.

“I’ve always moved players on and that enables me to go out and search for the next one or two.

“We’ve got three or four coming in this week and I’d rather work with young kids – I get a kick out of developing them.”

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