NEW manager Nigel Coates will attempt to continue his re-building of Colne with a swoop for Great Harwood Town's teenage sensation Matt Darbyshire.

The 17-year-old has already hit 10 goals for Harwood this season and the North West Counties Division Two leaders have put seven days' notice of an approach in for him.

Great Harwood manager John Hughes is aware of the interest in Darbyshire, who fired all four goals in last Saturday's 4-0 win at Castleton Gabriels, and feels he is more likely to move up the ladder than go to a team in the same division.

Hughes said: "He's too good for this league and too good for the UniBond, so he'll be looking at the Conference or Football League.

"A few clubs have been watching him and I want him to progress so he can get the coaching and be looked after properly. But it's early days and we have to keep his feet on the ground."

So while Coates may be foiled in his attempts to land Darbyshire, he is still making progress in plugging the gaps left by Paul Lynch's departure to Rossendale United.

He has added Craig Whittaker from Nelson to his squad and signed Damien Moran from another local rival, Bacup Borough.

He said: "I'm looking at a player from the North West Counties First Division and the UniBond League so there should be one or two more signings next week.

"Once I get it sorted out we should have the squad we need to, hopefully, go for promotion."

Whittaker will be back in the Colne team to face Chadderton at home in the league tomorrow, after being ineligible for last weekend's FA Vase victory over Chester-le-Street, but assistant boss Gary Rishton and Jason Heffernan are injured.

For Great Harwood, they have a derby at Nelson in the NWCL Division Two Trophy tomorrow.

Hughes isn't too enthused about having a break from the league, in which his team have now gone a club record 18 games unbeaten.

Hughes said: "The cup isn't my priority, it's the league. But we can't take anything away from Nelson, they're a good side and they're up there."

Harwood will use the fixture to give young Danny O'Reilly a run-out in the first team in the absence of the injured Anthony Green and John Eastham.

Nelson will be looking for more cup success against potential promotion rivals following last Saturday's 3-1 win over Maine Road in the FA Vase.

Manager Dave Hall said: "The players are really performing and it's going extremely well. The whole of the team is greater than the sum of the individual parts."

Padiham, with manager Graham Haworth pleased with the progress his young side is making, are also in Division Two Trophy action tomorrow, at Ashton Town.