Naylor busy as deadline looms

Kingstone Press League One clubs with promotion ambitions will be busy looking for squad-strengthening opportunities in the countdown to Friday's signing deadline.

With seven games to play, Roughyeds currently have 20 players signed plus teenage half-back David Hewitt on loan from St Helens. Of the 20, utility back Steven Nield won't play again this season because of a serious knee injury and young players like Tom Dempsey and Richard Joy have only a dozen first-team appearances between them.

Tom Ashton is expected to be back in action soon after more than three months out with knee ligament damage and Richard Lepori has just returned to the club after nearly two seasons away.

He is awaiting his first game back, which may come in Sunday's top-of-the-table clash at North Wales Crusaders (2.30pm).

With the likelihood that available players are being targeted by more than one club, Oldham have good reason for playing their cards close to their chest. But the club has been trying for a while to sign at least one new player - thought to be caught in a transfer chain.

Like most of the coaches in the upper half of the division, Scott Naylor has topped up his squad since day one with loan players - also governed by the Friday deadline. The cut-off point for dual-registration players is Sunday evening.

Once these have passed, no further movement is allowed and players can only turn out for one club until the end of the season. Another dual-reg stipulation is that after Sunday's games, only players who have turned out three or more times for the same club can play the rest of the season for that club.

In Oldham's case this means only Josh Johnson and Oliver Roberts are eligible to play out the season, subject to Huddersfield boss Paul Anderson’s approval.

Nathan Mason could return on loan, but if so he ouldn;t then play for Huddersfield until next season.

Similar regulations apply to Salford's Jon Ford - so a lot of negotiation is expected to take place before the weekend.