Source: Northern_Echo
Cooper hopes to tie up deals before Cats visit
DARLINGTON hope to have made additions to their ranks by the time they play their first friendly of pre-season at the weekend.[LNB] Quakers manager Mark Cooper is confident of adding at least two more players before Premier League Sunderland provide the opposition at The Northern Echo Arena on Saturday.[LNB] Last week Michael Brough arrived as one of the seven players that have signed since the end of last season, and Cooper is currently engaged in advanced talks with a defender and a striker.[LNB] Cooper wishes to keep their identities under wraps though last week in The Northern Echo he admitted to wanting Peterborough forward Liam Hatch.[LNB] Both targets are with Football League clubs and the manager expects a final answer from the pair today, while he also revealed Grimsby Town forward Adrian Forbes is on trial.[LNB] We're working hard to bring in a couple of players.[LNB] There's nothing to report at the moment but I think we're close on a couple of deals but nothing concrete, said Cooper.[LNB] I'm confident of there being at least two signings before the weekend.[LNB] Forbes, 31, who is on the transfer list at Grimsby, has played for a series of clubs including Norwich, Swansea, Blackpool and Luton where he played alongside Quakers assistant manager Richard Dryden.[LNB] Cooper added: Richard played with Adrian at Luton and as we're looking for decent characters and decent players we thought we'd have a look at him as he falls into that bracket.[LNB] We need one or two experienced players because we've got a lot of young players in the squad.[LNB] So Adrian's training with us but I saw Adam Proudlock's name linked to us and I don't know where that one has come from because there's nothing in that.[LNB] Chris Lumsdon, however, will not be part of Quakers' Blue Square Bet Premier campaign after reaching an agreement to leave the club.[LNB] The midfielder had a year remaining on his contract but having endured an injury-hit first season with the club the 30-year-old is to leave.[LNB] We've reached an agreement for him to leave the football club, said Cooper.[LNB] It was one of them situations that needed sorting out, it's a mutual parting of the ways. I don't think he's fit, he has struggled with an injury and is just not physically up to it.[LNB] Bradford manager Peter Taylor has expressed his dismay after learning recent signing Jake Speight has been jailed after pleading guilty to assault.[LNB] Neither the Bantams nor Speight's previous club Mansfield had been made aware of the 24-year-old's situation until his agent informed Bradford on Friday the striker would be appearing in court that morning.[LNB] Taylor said: This incident happened in February and Jake and his agent never told anyone. That's why I didn't know.[LNB]
