IAN Long is prepared to be patient in order to bag the prolific striker he wants to bolster Alvechurch's forward line.

The manager is still in the hunt for a proven goal-getter to support Karl Edwards but is now playing the waiting game.

He said: "At the moment there are players at clubs higher up the levels who may not stay there.

"You never know what's going to happen in pre-season and somebody may well come available.

"I don't want to bring in a player for the sake of it, I want to add someone with the right quality.

"I have spoke to 14 players so far and I am monitoring a number of situations."

Long moved from Tividale to Alvechurch this summer and brought many of the squad with him.

But he lost Jordan Archer to Redditch United and is searching for a replacement.

Meanwhile, Alvechurch kicked-off pre-season with a 1-0 win at Littleton, with Edwards on target.

But Long was not completely pleased with what he saw and was expecting an improvement in last night's game at Cradley and Saturday's trip to OadbyTown.

He said: "It was not the best game but it was disrupted by substitutions, Littleton started making changes after 15 minutes.

"But we won and kept a clean sheet and it was important for us to get into a winning habit early on.

"I know it is early days but I am looking for a big improvement over the next couple of games.

Alvechurch also tackle Wolverhampton Sporting away next Wednesday.

Jack Creswell was set to feature against Cradley in their midweek friendly clash.