BOSS John Hill says Halesowen Town are in talks with Crewe Alexandra about extending Dan Udoh and Oliver Finney's loan spells at The Grove.

Udoh and Finney again featured as the Yeltz backed up last Saturday's derby win over rivals Stourbridge by battling to a 2-1 victory against Hednesford on Tuesday night.

Udoh scored in both contests to highlight why his manager is keen to keep him.

Hill said: "Dan Udoh works really hard off the ball as well as what he is capable when he has it.

"He has done really well and we want to keep both of the lads from Crewe.

"We are talking to Crewe now in the hope we can extend their loan deals. They are here until the end of October at the moment but we are working to add to that.

"We have shown before that players who come to us for a good period of time are sent back to their parent clubs as better footballers. We think that will be the case again."

Securing the services of both men is high on the agenda of the Town management team, as is bringing in new recruits following a host of player departures and injury issues.

Forward James Spray is the latest to leave the club following the departure last week of winger Lee Chilton and striker Luke Shearer.

Spray has returned to Lye Town, Chilton quickly signed with neighbours Cradley and Shearer is apparently being tracked by Stourbridge.

Hill explained: "Lee Chilton couldn't do the travelling anymore, it hasn't worked out for James Spray and Shearer has also moved on and may end up at Stourbridge. It's not an ideal situation but this happens in football.

"Myself and Matty (Clarke) are constantly on the phone trying to bring in players and we'll be trying to boost numbers before the weekend."

The exit of the three attackers only adds to the disruption caused by the list of players on the treatment table or suspended at present.

Dan Bragoli and Alex Woodhouse had to sit out Tuesday's win due to suspension, Kalern Thomas was absent and Brad Lewis and Cameron Steele are both carrying knocks.

Dan Smith could also be facing a long spell on the sidelines after picking up a knee injury against the Pitmen.

However, Hill praised the character of his patched-up side ahead of another tough trip to second-placed Altrincham this Saturday.

He said: "It's a confident dressing room at the moment and we have done well to deal with the amount of players unavailable.

"We picked up a good win against Stourbridge and wanted to field the same side, but instead had four missing and had to put some square pegs in round holes.

"Credit to the players, they have had to dig really, really deep. The Stourbridge game took a lot out of them but then they've gone and picked up the win a few days later.

"It's going to be difficult again on Saturday because Altrincham are my favourites to win this league. We will have to cause another big upset."