Ian Crane wants to keep Wealdstone striker Reece Grant at AFC Hayes for the rest of the season.
The hotshot is on loan at Farm Park but the arrangement with Gordon Bartlett’s side is due to come to an end after this weekend’s trip to Kettering Town.
Hayes manager Crane is good friends with his opposite number at Grosvenor Vale and the two sides arranged a friendly on Saturday after the Brook’s Southern Division One Central game with Barton Rovers was postponed.
That friendship will be key to ensuring Grant remains with Hayes and Crane is in need of a goalscorer following Lawrie Shennan’s lengthy ban for breaching FA betting rules.
Crane said: “We’ve had Reece Grant on loan from Wealdstone for a month. His loan is due to be coming up for renewal but we’ll be looking to extend that until the end of the season. I know Gordon Bartlett is looking to get him games somewhere and I don’t see that being a problem. He likes it here and the boys like him.”
Grant signed Ryman League forms with the Stones in August after an outstanding year as part of the Stanmore College set-up.
Former Uxbridge striker Nicke Kabamba had been supplying the firepower at Hayes but has moved up a level to play Premier Division football at Burnham.
Adding pace to the team, Grant has fitted nicely into the Hayes side and Crane is pleased to see Drew Harewood benefiting from playing in tandem with the teenager.
He added: “Drew Harewood has been with us for a year now and hadn’t really done it until now, but in the last couple of weeks he’s really come on. He’s come back to life and is looking good again.
“We could maybe use another body up front but apart from that we’re looking strong. Jake Cass has been another superb signing for us in midfield.”
Shennan is joined on the sidelines by keeper Ben Goode, who also breached betting rules, and Crane has had to shuffle his side around in recent weeks.
But the Brook manager said he has been pleased with the team he has assembled and the spirit in the camp.
He said: “Sam Mazurek has come in and has been superb for us in goal. He is a real voice in the changing room.
“We’ve got a young side and Sam is a really experienced character for us.
“Ricky Machel is new at the back and has struggled with injuries but he’s looked good in the three or four performances he’s put in for us in defence.”
