LEAGUE leaders Chester today stepped up their search for a replacement goalkeeper.
Blues boss Neil Young is keen to sign a shot-stopper ahead of tomorrow’s League Challenge Cup tie at Newcastle Town to deputise for first choice keeper Richard Whiteside who has suffered a recurrence of his ankle injury.
Whiteside was substituted by on loan striker Alex Titchiner in the 88th minute of Chester’s 2-1 weekend league win at Cammell Laird that featured a double strike from leading Blues marksman Michael Wilde who ended the contest as Whiteside’s replacement between the posts.
The victory hoisted Chester to the top of the Division One North league table, one point clear of second placed Chorley who now have two games in hand.
Young said: “The joke in the dressing room after the game from Michael Wilde was that the only good thing to come out of the match was Richard Whiteside getting injured!
“But we’ll get somebody in before tomorrow’s cup match at Newcastle Town.
“Richard was injured before the game, but he obviously wanted to play, and people will now perhaps understand why we wanted the football authorities to pursue Darlington for taking second choice keeper, Chris Oldfield, from us.
“It’s not very easy to go out and find a good goalkeeper at this stage of the season, particularly anyone worth their salt who is playing for their club.
“At the moment we can only offer a reserve keeper a place on the bench which is not a massive draw, so we have to try and find a good young kid.
“Fair play to Chris Oldfield because Darlington is a very good move for him, but things have to be done correctly.
“I think Richard will need a week to rest his injury.
“I’ll be speaking to a number of football league clubs to see if we can get a goalkeeper in on loan for a couple of weeks just to cover us.
“We'll have to bring a goalkeeper in for at least a month if Richard needs more than a week just to cover for us.
“There are a number of options as far as the goalkeeping position is concerned.
“I've got a lad coming in who has been at Burnley but he hasn’t played for nine months which may be a little bit too much. We may need someone who has been playing regularly.”
Admitting he had been pleased to see the Blues secure a 2-1 victory against his former club, Cammell Laird, Young added: “I thought we definitely deserved to win the game because we had three goals disallowed and created a number of scoring chances.
“Their keeper has made some tremendous saves, particularly one from Antoni Sarcevic in the first half, but we deserved to win at a club that is never an easy place to get a result.
“I knew the Cammell Laird players would be fired up for the game and that they wouldn’t give us an inch and I was proven right. They got in our faces, they stopped us playing, but we tried to play when we could.
“Fortunately I thought our battling qualities earned us the points, but teams don’t seem to have to work very hard to score goals against us which is a worry.
“It was pleasing to win against my home town club and to get the three points which put us top of the league table for the first time this season.
“I know that Chorley and a few other teams have got games in hand, but we’re now top and that should give us a little bit of confidence. I just hope now that we can kick on.”
- Chester have been drawn at home to Division One South club, Sutton Coldfield Town in the second round of the President’s Cup, scheduled to take place on Wednesday, November 17, (7.45pm kick-off).
The full draw is: Bamber Bridge v AFC Fylde; Chester v Sutton Coldfield Town; Curzon Ashton v Goole; Lancaster City v Skelmersdale United; Lincoln United v Belper Town; Market Drayton Town v Newcastle Town; Stamford v Shepshed Dynamo or Glapwell; Wakefield v Harrogate Railway.