Yeltz to give youth a chance (From Halesowen News)

Yeltz to give youth a chance

in Sport

Halesowen Town will give youth a chance as they continue to plan for next season.

Boss Shaun Cunnington has been running the rule over several of the club’s youth team players and will blood them over the closing weeks, starting with the Bank Holiday double bill at home to Hungerford Town (3pm) on Saturday and at Stourport Swifts on Monday (1pm kick-off).

But one player who won’t feature is forward Nathan Jones, who looks like missing the rest of the season with a knee injury picked up in the recent defeat at Poole Town.

Cunnington said: “We have had three or four of the youth team players in training over the past couple of weeks.

“We will be looking to throw one or all of them in at some stage over the next few weeks to see where they are at.

“The situation with Nathan is a real shame and we look like losing him for the rest of the season, he took a really nasty bang on the knee.”

He added: “We know where we have gone wrong this season in terms of discipline, we are constantly looking at players who fit our budget and we can bring in.

“It’s all about looking toward next season now.”

Two players who could feature big next season are new midfield arrivals Craig Reid and Arik Grier. Reid has arrived from Hucknall Town and marked his debut at Bridgwater Town last Saturday with the only goal of the game.

Grier is a former trainee at West Brom and also an international, having turned out for St Kitts and Nevis in a CONCACAF World Cup qualifier against Canada last year.

Cunnington admitted it was going to take time for the 19-year-old to adapt to Southern League football.

He said: “It’s totally different football to what Arik is used to, which is academy football.

“The physical demands at our level are a lot tougher.

“From his point fo view he wants to put himself in the shop window and he wants to do it at Halesowen.

“Craig Reid is a local lad, he doesn’t live far from the ground at all.

“I’ve known him since he played for me in the youth team at Kidderminster and we have high hopes for him.”