News: Kidderminster Harriers boss Burr pleased with start

PLEASED: Harriers boss Steve Burr

KIDDERMINSTER Harriers boss Steve Burr was pleased with his squad’s double workout on Saturday, but remained tight lipped on which trialists have a future at Aggborough.

With much of the first team squad having a run-out at West Bromwich Albion’s training ground on Saturday morning – the Harriers beating the Baggies 3-2 [see below] – a mixed side lost 2-1 at Evostik League club Romulus on the afternoon.

Among the trialists at Coles Lane were former England Schools goalkeeper Ed Baldy and ex-Halesowen Town striker Justin Nisbett, both of whom impressed, while more familiar names on show included midfielders Jack Byrne and Marvin Johnson along with defender Mickey Demetriou.

Burr, who came close to leading Harriers into the play-offs in the last two seasons, admitted he had been impressed by some of the performances, but insisted no decisions would be taken yet as he looks to go one better and gate crash the top five this season.

“It’s difficult to judge because this is the first game we’ve had  – a lot of the lads who have already signed played at West Brom and had a good workout, and there’s one or two played again against Romulus.

“We’ll have another look at one or two trialists, but these are the types of games where we can see if anyone is going to make the step up and give us something better than we’ve already got.

“I thought Justin Nisbett looked quite lively today, but we’ll keep our eye on things, it’s early yet. A lot of the first team squad have got a game on Tuesday night [at AFC Wulfrunians] and we’ve got another game over at Stourport on Thursday where we’ll take another look at some of these lads [trialists].”

On the friendly at Albion, Burr was equally pleased with the run out, especially for returning goalkeeper Danny Lewis.

Lewis will be vying for the ‘Number One’ shirt again this season after an anterior cruciate ligament injury required surgery and kept him on the sidelines for nine months.

Burr added: “The one good thing is there were no injuries and we were very pleased with the game.

“The result is not important but it does give the lads a bit of confidence and I thought some of our play was excellent. It was a great experience for our lads to be playing against Premier League players.

“Danny [Lewis] played the full 90 minutes and that’s his first game back after being injured for a while – he looked very good, as a lot of them did, they’ve come back, look in good shape and look fit.

“It has been a long road for Danny, nobody has worked harder than him to get back on the football pitch and it was nice to see him playing a part again. He played the whole 90 minutes and got through it OK, but I’m sure he’ll be feeling a bit stiff after that!”