The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Dave Frecklington has revealed that he plans to give his Spalding United squad a facelift after Saturday’s humbling 4-1 FA Trophy defeat at Gresley.
The Tulips chief plans to bring in as many as FIVE new players ahead of the weekend as he bids to deal with the first selection crisis of his so far impressive tenure at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field.
With key trio Neal Spafford, Brad Barraclough and Matt Varley all sidelined through injury, Frecklington admits that the time is right to add to his thread-bare squad.
The Spalding supremo began his spree by snapping up strikers Conor Higginson and Danny Durkin on Tuesday night.
Higginson joined Handsworth Parramore from Worksop Town a few months ago and lists Mansfield Town, Glapwell, Sheffield FC, Grantham Town, Rainworth Miners Welfare, Shirebrook and Gainsborough Trinity among his former clubs.
Durkin, meanwhile, scored 20 goals in 29 UCL Premier Division appearances for Harrowby United last season and signs from Grantham.
The deals come after Frecklington warned his table-topping team that, despite their incredible start to the Evo-Stik NPL First Division South season, he’s not a manager to rest on his laurels.
“Going out of the FA Trophy was a blow,” said the ex-Lincoln United boss. “But I suppose the only positive is that it wasn’t a league game.
“We’ve not performed in the cup competitions so far – and my players will now discover that I’ll not accept 4-1 defeats, especially when they play so poorly.
“We looked tired and uninspired – and it’s now my job to freshen things up.
“I’ve made contact with five transfer targets and would hope that up to four of them will be signed in time for Saturday.
“It’s not a kneejerk reaction, the lads have done superbly well and I’ve been very vocal about that.
“But we have been operating with a very small squad. It’s now time for us to add players and provide that competition for places that perhaps we’d been missing.
“I just feel that new faces are needed to keep everybody on their toes, but we’ll only add quality.
“I’m delighted to sign Conor and Danny, who are two quality additions to the squad. More new faces will follow.”
Frecklington hopes to get two more transfers completed by the end of the week, with a left back among those he’s interested in.
That would give the Tulips, who remain unbeaten in the league, a shot in the arm ahead of their upcoming home clash against Leek Town on Saturday (3pm).
Spalding go into the clash with 15th-placed Leek with a two-point cushion over Shaw Lane – and will be hot favourites to grab a fifth home league triumph of the season given that Leek are yet to win away.
Frecklington is hungry to hold on to top spot and expects his wounded charges to bounce back.
He added: “We’ve got to target wins in our home games. In truth, the Sir Halley isn’t a nice place for the other sides in this league to come and play.
“We’ve got to embrace that and make things difficult for our opponents.
“If we can add quality in the right areas before the games, we know we’ll take some stopping.
“We can’t rest on our laurels at the top. It’s time to kick on and keep our run going. Potential transfer targets will see our position and want to come and play for us.”
Spalding will almost certainly be without Spafford, Barraclough and Varley for the visit of Leek.
Meanwhile, Monday’s scheduled trip to Romulus has been rescheduled for Saturday, October 29 (3pm).
Follow @Andrew_Clucas on Twitter for live updates from Saturday’s Sir Halley showdown.
