Adams: No knee-jerk signings if Stephens departs
STRATFORD Town manager Carl Adams says he will not be making any knee-jerk signings if Ben Stephens is offered a contract at Ipswich Town.
Blues boss Mick McCarthy was encouraged with the 20-year-old’s performance when on trial for the club’s under-23s at Colchester United early last week.
McCarthy is keen to see more of Town’s top scorer and Stephens was due to play a second trial match against Aston Villa on Monday, only for the game to be postponed due to snow.
The forward looks set to return to Ipswich next week, making him available for Stratford Town’s home game against Dorchester on Saturday.
Whether Stephens stays or goes, Adams says he has complete confidence in the players in his squad, with the likes of Mike Taylor, Edwin Ahenkorah, Jazz Luckie, Justin Marsden and the soon-to-return George Washbourne offering him a plethora of attacking options.
Adams said: “We don’t know where we stand with Ben at the moment, but if he does eventually get a move, then it’s fantastic for him, but it’s also great publicity for the club.
“The plan if we do lose him — and selfishly I hope we don’t — then I’m going to very much rely on what I have here.
“I don’t see the need to hunt down a quality forward as we have plenty at the club already.
“Taylor and Edwin offer us a lot of quality. Taylor’s goal ratio is very good and Edwin is playing well for us.
“We’ve also got Justin Marsden and George Washbourne is literally around the corner.”
Stephens watched from the sidelines last Saturday as Town ended a six-match winless run at Dunstable.
Goals from Mike Taylor (2) and Liam Francis saw Town claim a 3-2 success and Adams said: “I thought we made very hard work of it. But it was good to get the three points and after the run of games we had in January we all feel a whole lot better now.”
Town welcome Dorchester to the MoodChimp on Saturday before a tricky trip to Basingstoke on Tuesday.
“Our toughest game ahead of us is Basingstoke,” Adams added.
“Their home form is unreal. We’ve now got Dorchester, Basingstoke then Gosport and if we can get seven out of nine points from those that will put us either 12th or 13th.”
