Martin Ling believes adding a centre half to his squad is a priority.

With Phil Bolland having signed for Barrow, Wayne Hatswell and Josh Coulson are currently the only recognised central defenders on the books. Rory McAuley has played there in some of the pre-season games but the 19-year-old is primarily a right-back or midfielder and Ling is keen to add some depth to his cover in defence.

"There is quality here, but quality in depth is probably an issue," he admitted. "There are areas where players are needed and initially I think we're short of a centre half.

"That's not having a go at either of the young boys that have played alongside Wayne Hatswell. They've done fine but I do feel there's a need for a centre half, but with me coming in so late that may not happen before next weekend."

He also feels the front line will miss Lee Phillips' strong physical presence while the striker recovers from a torn medial ligament that is expected to rule him out of training until early-mid September.

"With Lee being injured a physical presence may be needed up front as well but it's a tight budget, as has been well-documented, so money will have to be spent wisely and that may not be possible to rectify straightaway, but centre half is the most immediate problem."

The budget cuts for this season have indeed been well-documented but Ling indicated that the directors are aware that an additional central defender is a necessity: "The Chairman has said that if we could get somebody out it would help, but he knows a centre half is essential so I think a centre half would be OK on the shopping list because it is a position where we're one short, without a doubt.

"Nothing is concrete," he added, "but when I spoke to him before taking the job and since taking the job he knows that's required, so I'll come up with a list of players that fit that bill and then we'll discuss it."

The manager has spoken previously of his contacts in the game, particularly among the London clubs, and today he revealed that he has been inundated with offers of players: "My phone has been very quiet for seven months from agents and the like - which has been a great pleasure! - but it's started to hot up now with people I haven't heard from for seven months ringing up and offering me players.

"I've said that centre half and centre forward are the two positions I feel at the moment we could do something about; centre half first, and we'll worry about the other positions at a later date because we haven't got a big budget and at the moment we can cope with that situation.

"So I'm talking to my contacts and it may be a loan opportunity, and it may be a six-month or a season-long loan depending on the personnel."

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