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Striker search continues for Dale

1/ 7/2008

KEITH HILL’s search for Glenn Murray’s replacement continues this week in what is proving a difficult close season in terms of recruitment.

The Dale chief drafted in midfielder Ciaran Toner from Grimsby on a one-year deal over the weekend, but has so far hit the buffers in his attempt to land a goalscorer in the Murray mould.

"We’ve had no joy with any of the strikers we’ve looked at," he said. "No matter how many we’ve bid for, the answer has been the same – clubs are not selling. Grant Holt is the only striker we’ve seen moving clubs. After all, who wants to sell a goalscorer?

"Clubs are understandably reluctant to let proven goalscorers leave. We have five good strikers at the club already in Adam Le Fondre, Chris Dagnall, Kallum Higginbotham and Will Buckley, who I expect will be involved a lot more next season, while Lee Thorpe has signed a six-month contract window to window.

"Finding a replacement for Glenn Murray is still the priority but when you consider Murray went to Brighton and scored 10 goals for them, proving he could do it at a higher level, it shows how difficult it is to get a player like that into the club.  It may be that we have to look at a striker from a lower level and sprinkle a bit of magic dust on them, and we are capable of doing that."The market is definitely hotting up – we’ll get there."

Meanwhile, there was disappointment for Dale in their pursuit of Bury’s Nicky Adams, a long-term target for the club.

The youngster looks set to sign for a League One club, rumoured to be Leicester City.

"It’s going to be a difficult pre-season with regards to recruiting players. We need more strength in depth, I think it was obvious from the Play-Off Final that a lack of depth hindered us. At the same time, you need to run a tight ship when you’re working with the resources we have.Ciaran Toner has come in and provided more quality for central midfield. Gary Jones and David Perkins were superb for us last year, but at Wembley we saw the need for depth in that department.

"Another priority for me is making sure the players who did so well for us last season are retained by the club.The lads return for pre-season training on Saturday and then we should know more on that front."