Avenue boss Phil Sharpe's phone has been red-hot this week as he scours the leagues for players.

The new man at the helm is determined to strengthen his squad quickly but Sharpe is equally keen to give the club's current players every chance to impress.

And there is no Fergie-style hairdrier treatment being meted out in the dressing room - just yet.

"There was no lack of effort on Wednesday against Marine and I expect the same level of commitment at Leek today," said Sharpe.

"The players needed an arm put round them after the game on Wednesday. Unfortunately we met Marine playing as well as they have done for ages - and they are not at the top of the table for nothing.

"I could not fault our players for effort, they gave everything, but you can see where our shortfalls are."

Sharpe informed skipper Dean Jones and last season's top scorer Steve Oleksewycz they were going on the transfer list before the Marine game but still picked them in his starting line-up.

"Steve and Dean are high earners and that is one of the reasons they have gone on

the transfer list. If you want

to bring players in, you have got to look at that," explained Sharpe.

"We are working very hard to get players in at the moment. I am speaking to managers and they are then speaking to their players.

"But players from our league do not particularly want to move at this time of year and players at a higher level want a lot of money."

Sharpe added: "I thought new signing Neil Ross did very well against Marine. You could see his quality. He hadn't played for a few weeks and he will improve.

"But I thought we were poor in midfield. I do not think that we got tight enough to their players. That is an area we need to look at as well.

"There's no point in me shouting and bawling at the players as I have only been here a week.

"I have to try and keep their confidence up. At the same time I have got to try to bring in three or four players to strengthen the squad as well.

"I still believe we are always capable of scoring goals, we just have to stop leaking them at the back."