It has been a manic few days at Bradford (Park Avenue), with the blow of several outgoings eased by a loan deal for a talented young goalkeeper.

Avenue brought in centre-back Jacob Lara from Salford City on a temporary basis ahead of their home game with Lancaster City last weekend.

He made his debut as a substitute, on a painful afternoon for the Horsfall outfit, who threw away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2.

It leaves them nine points off safety in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, and drastic changes have been made, perhaps in an attempt to shake things up as the club aim to make a great escape and avoid a second successive relegation.

The headline news is the departure of Jamie Spencer.

The experienced midfielder was the only player still on the books to be involved in Avenue’s run to the National League North play-offs in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

He went on to join Guiseley but returned to Horsfall ahead of the 2022-23 season, with his absence for around a third of the campaign through injury a key factor in their relegation.

Spencer made a bright start to 2023-24 with Avenue, but suffered a horrible knee injury in September which ruled him out for the season, with he and the club now parting ways.

Justin Iwobi and Ethan Vaughan were on loan at the club from FC Halifax Town and Bootle respectively, with the former scoring his first goal for Avenue in the defeat to Lancaster.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Justin Iwobi (9) gives Harrison Hopper a piggyback after scoring against Lancaster on Saturday.Justin Iwobi (9) gives Harrison Hopper a piggyback after scoring against Lancaster on Saturday. (Image: John Rhodes.)

But both have now returned to their parent clubs, while defender Jamie Sharman has mutually agreed to an exit from Horsfall, despite only signing on a deal until the end of the season less than three weeks ago.

There had been some speculation over Lewis Hey, and whether he had left the club, but Avenue have confirmed the young defender has been nursing an injury over the last few weeks, and they hope to have back with the squad soon.

And joining Hey as part of the first-team squad is young goalkeeper Kieran Flavell, on a one-month loan deal from Barnsley.

He will provide competition between the sticks for 23-year-old stopper Tom Scott, who is on loan at Avenue from Halifax until the end of the season.