GORDON Bartlett promised to step up his efforts this week to add an extra striker to his Wealdstone squad ahead of the registration deadline.

The Stones’ boss has until Friday to secure the added firepower which could make all  the difference in the final push for the playoffs and the need is all the more urgent with the news 40-goal man is nursing an ankle knock ahead of tomorrow’s visit to Canvey Island.

With all the promotion hopefuls, some with considerably more financial clout than Stones despite their FA Trophy run, in the market for strikers Bartlett admits he has drawn a blank so far with his search.
And he guaranteed there would be no silly panic buys.

He said: “There are an awful lot of people out there wanting strikers and I’ve spoken to another couple of managers who have got far more money than we have and they are struggling to sign players as well so it isn’t going to be easy.

“Tooting have thrown a lot of money at trying to stay up in the last week or so and what good has it done them.

“So you don’t panic. It has never been my way and hopefully it never will be.

“These boys have done particularly well up till now and I’m not going to turn my back on them. What I want to try and do is supplement the squad and just add a little bit more quality if we can for the run in – if not we’ll stick with the boys we’ve got.”

Jolly is likely to strap his ankle for Tuesday’s trip to Essex, but midfield enforcer looks certain to miss out with the hamstring problem which forced him off against East Thurrock on Saturday, while skipper Wes Parker begins a three-match suspension for clocking up 15 bookings this season.

The meeting conjures up memories of last year’s clash where Stones were left sickened by a worldy of a leveller deep into stoppage-time which robbed them of two valuable points from a game they dominated.
Bartlett knows it is a scenario they can ill afford to repeat this time.

He said: “We played like Arsenal that night and played them off the park, but we overplayed and paid the price.

“Hopefully we have learnt our lesson.”