RAMSBOTTOM United are still waiting to hand a debut to former Paris Saint-Germain youngster Cedric Krou – after being warned they could face another points deduction if they play the Frenchman without international clearance. The Rams have won seven of their last eight games and earned the Evo-Stik First Division North club of the month award for January – the second time this season they have clinched the honour. They sit fifth in the table despite seeing three points deducted for fielding the suspended Danny Warrender in a game against Clitheroe on November 26. Ramsbottom have bolstered an injury-hit squad with the addition of Krou, Simon Burton and Chris Denham but the French utility man is still to make his debut. The 22-year-old came through the youth system at French giants PSG but Ramsbottom were warned a fortnight ago that, even though Krou has already played in non-league for FC United and Trafford, he did not have international clearance. “We got a phone call before our game against Clitheroe saying that if we played him we could get in trouble, which obviously we didn’t want because we’ve already had three points deducted this season,” said joint manager Bernard Morley. “The French FA need his passport so we’re waiting to sort out international clearance. “He’s 6ft plus and he can play anywhere down the spine of the team, centre back, central midfield or centre forward. “He’s got pace and he’s big and strong, he’s the sort of player we haven’t really had. “He’s 22 and he’s quiet, and quite often these young lads don’t like the muddy pitches, but he’s a good player and he has good feet.” Ramsbottom took only one point from their first five league games of the season but Morley has been delighted with the way the players have responded. “It would have been dead easy for lads to jump ship at the start of the season but they didn’t do that,” Morley said. “We had a bad start, we were joint bottom with Radcliffe on one point. “But it’s still 95 per cent of the same squad we had last year and not much has changed. We’ve been on a good run and it’s down to the lads. “We’re in the play-off positions now but we’re not thinking about that, we just want to keep the run going. “We’re one of the best five teams in the division on merit. “We’ve been beaten Darlington twice, we’ve beaten the teams around us. “We were second at this stage last season and missed out on the play-offs. “We lost to some of the lower sides in the table and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”