Dan Preston requests to leave AFC Telford

Preston was an unused substitute in last night's goalless draw at home to Worcester City, which Hednesford manager Rob Smith watched from the stands.

The Pitmen are the next visitors in an all-Skrill Conference North clash and Bucks manager Liam Watson hinted they are interested in taking Preston away from Shropshire.

The ex-Birmingham City centre-back, 21, is one of only two surviving members from last season's Conference Premier relegation and the club took up a one-year option on his deal in the summer.

But Preston has made just one start this term and has asked to go, initially on loan, and Watson insists he will not stand his way, although there will be no move before Saturday.

He said: "Basically, Dan has said to me he's not enjoying his football or being at the club. We have tried to bend over backwards and we gave him a new contract.

"If he doesn't want to be here, we will make something to make sure he is not. If he's not happy, at least he's being honest, he has played but hasn't started the amount of games he would have liked.

"He might need a fresh start, he's asked to go out on loan but we will see what happens, maybe he will be sold.

"I think Hednesford have shown an interest, but most of this stuff is driven by agents."

Watson did hand Sean Cooke his competitive debut last night, the winger playing 27 minutes as a substitute after recovering from a fractured leg, sustained at last club AFC Flyde.

The Bucks boss said: "Sean wanted the ball and, when he got it, he tried to do something positive but it will take him a bit of time to find his feet.

"It's good he got on the pitch and I am pleased for him."

A first clean sheet of the league season was Watson's only cause for cheer last night, after the Telford chief watched his side miss a host of chances.

He said: "Of course, you want clean sheets but I wouldn't say anything last night was a positive, we should have won the game comfortably. There's no excuse.

"You see the chances we missed in the second-half and some were bordering on embarrassing. Adam Farrell should have come off scoring four and Matthew McGinn had a good chance.

"When we upped the tempo, we looked decent going forward. We are creating chances but we have got to finish them off. We need someone to start scoring."