BARNOLDSWICK Town have signed a striker with impressive pedigree in Josh Steadman, but manager Matt Barnes relied on some friendly hints before purchasing the former Curzon Ashton man.

Barnes laughed: "He's a decent purchase for us and he's played for a few teams around where I live in the Greater Manchester area.

"I didn't know him too well, but people kept telling me that I should get him for Barnoldswick. His experience in a higher league will help us and he did well in his trial game, as well as against Colne at the weekend.

"He needs to get fitter though so we'll use him wisely but talent-wise I can't complain. He'll only go from strength to strength."

Town put in a good performance at Colne in that clash on Saturday. They were 2-0 down against the Evo-Stik North side at the break, but Jack Coop reduced the arrears in the second half before the hosts netted a late third.

Barnes felt his team were unlucky, saying: "We had chances to make it 2-2 and their killer third goal just came from inexperience.

"We had a young lad playing at left wing-back, which is not his natural position, and he gave the ball away cheaply in the final third.

"I don't mind that because you have to take these knocks and learn from them. We've used a lot of players in pre-season as I've been getting to know them, but we're starting to get a more settled side ahead of the weekend."

Town also lost 3-1 against Glossop North End on Tuesday but despite that being their final pre-season game, Barnes is still unsure of his final squad ahead of Saturday's opening Hallmark Security League Premier Division clash at Charnock Richard.

He said: "We're hoping to sign a trialist from Ramsbottom United and there might be another player coming in too. Ideally, we'd like another central midfielder before the season starts though.

"I got quite bored of pre-season and I'm ready for Saturday now. We've lost a couple of games this summer but we won't look into it too much. I think we'll be fine this season."