Fletcher pleads for signings

Cherries stalwart hopes Football League lifts embargo

By Chris Galea   Last updated: 19th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Fletcher pleads for signings

Fletcher: Hoping for signings

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Bournemouth's veteran striker Steve Fletcher is hoping that the Football League gives the club the green light to bring in a few players on loan during the January transfer window.

The Cherries have rarely been able to fill their substitutes' bench this season and are down to the bare bones in terms of squad depth, with injuries taking their toll.

The club's transfer embargo has stopped them from bringing recruits in all season, but the South Coast club are hoping to get the ban loosened so that they can bolster their paper-thin squad.

Loyal servant Fletcher, who has been at the club for 16 years, has told skysports.com that it is vital that the club are allowed to bring new signings in during January if they are to maintain their promotion push this season.

"We are down to the bare bones at the moment, with around 10 players in for training most days, so it isn't like we are asking for it to be eased for us to improve on what we have got," said Fletcher.

"It is a case of needing to bring them in because we haven't got a squad big enough to compete until the end of the season.

"Hopefully we will be given the chance to do that, but if not we will have to just carry on like we have been all season."

The club have had to do it the hard way over the last few seasons, with a points deduction last season almost condemning them to relegation and a transfer embargo this term, but Fletcher believes the sorry position they found themselves in has helped them become stronger.

He added: "It made everybody fight for each other and it has made us play to our strengths more.

"The smaller the unit, the tighter you have to become, so it is just a case of accepting what we have got and making the best use out of it.

"It is a rarity that we can name a full bench, but it isn't going to change any time soon, so we've just to get on with it."

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