HALESOWEN Town boss John Hill says he will not be bringing in a replacement for Joe Hull after the defender left for rivals Stourbridge this week.

Hull moved to the Memorial Ground to follow in the recent footsteps of Kristian Green and Tom Tonks, who both made the same move during the summer.

However, financial restraints at The Grove mean Hill will look to his squad to deal with the loss rather than adding a new face.

He said: “Everyone knows the financial restrains here at Halesowen. We won’t be going out and replacing him by hand-picking someone we want.

“We are not in a position to do that and I also think we have the personnel to come in and cope anyway. It is not an area of the team where we are short.

“We will obviously keep our ears to the ground in case something comes up but we aren’t actively looking for a direct replacement.

“Stourbridge are a club very much on the up and have a lot more cash than we do, so we are in no position to compete with them on that front.

“Saying that, Joe is not a lad that is motivated by money. He has handled himself brilliantly during the move and he goes with my very best wishes.

“He has been a big player for us in recent years and it’s disappointing he has left but he felt he needed a fresh challenge and spoke to me about it.

“These things happen in football and you just have to move on.”

Meanwhile, the Yeltz hosted Worcester City for a friendly game on Tuesday night as Hill looked to keep his players busy after last Saturday game against Salford City was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

They lost the game 1-0 after the visitors struck from a first half free-kick on the edge of the area. But Hill was pleased to organise the match ahead of this Saturday’s visit to eighth-placed Nantwich Town.

“It was a good work out and was really beneficial to us,” added the manager.

“Everyone got some good game time under their belts and we got to have a look at a few things as well.

“I was mindful that Nantwich would have a game mid-week and we wouldn’t have played again, which I think was a problem for us when we went to Workington. As it turns out, their cup game with Stourbridge was again called off anyway.

“It means we have had a good workout and can hopefully start the game quickly on Saturday.

“We just need a few more wins now to give us that breathing space from the bottom half of the league.

“That would take the pressure off a little and we could hopefully look to end the season well.”