Midfield reinforcements to give Brakes impetus

Despite uncertainty surrounding the number of teams who will face the drop from the Conference North at the end of the season, last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Barrow made it a worrying one win in 12 for Brakes.

With Craig Owen again ruled out and David McNamee having picked up a cracked rib, fears Peter Till may have broken his foot have put further strain on Brakes’ midfield resources and Holleran says the addition of Nathan Hicks from Histon and the imminent arrival of Reece Flanagan from Walsall comes at the perfect time.

“We’re aware that we are getting every last drop out of some of the players and need fresh legs,” said Holleran.

“There was a lot of interest in Nathan and he is someone we’ve liked every time we’ve seen him.

“He’s young, energetic and he gets into good areas.

“We were going to look at bringing him in in the summer but we’ve brought it forward and we’ve beaten off a fair few clubs for him.”

A combative midfielder with an eye for a pass, 22-year-old Hicks was at Leicester City as a youngster and numbers Kettering Town among his former clubs.

The signing of Flanagan, 19, who Holleran describes as “a sitting player who is comfortable on the ball and will help with our build-up play” is expected to be completed today.

“We’ve got players who put everything in, but we’ve lacked a bit of quality at times,” added Holleran.

“Hopefully, these two will add a little bit more and it will give the whole side a lift.”

Both new signings are expected to be in the starting line-up for the trip to Histon tomorrow and Tuesday’s home clash with Oxford City (7.45pm).