Hampton & Richmond Borough boss Alan Devonshire has revealed plans to land a new striker have been shelved for the time being - because of the holiday season.

The Beavers chief said a fortnight ago he hoped to land a new front man to lighten the load on veteran Lawrence Yaku and target man Ian Hodges next season, as they bid to land the Blue Square South title next season.

Hampton return to pre-season training next Saturday knowing they have Watford, Fulham, Luton Town and Wycombe Wanderers as confirmed friendlies with Swindon Town and Peterborough United still in the pipeline.

And Devonshire, who has three targets in mind to boost his resources, believes he will know more about the make-up of his squad for the coming campaign once he runs the rule over them next week.

“Nothing has really moved forward in terms of players coming in. We have spoken to a striker but he is on holiday at the moment so I can’t see that situation changing any time soon,” he said.

“We are back in training next week and I’ll have a better idea of what is happening then. All of last year’s squad have agreed to stay on, so it is a case of supplementing that and seeing how they shape up.”

Hampton’s projected friendly programme will boost the Station Road coffers, but the former West Ham United legend says it is unlikely to add any glamour to his training schedule.

“We’ve got some good friendlies lined up, but I’d like to think it will be even better next year,” he added.

“It brings in extra money, but that doesn’t mean we can afford to go on a pre-season training camp, we can’t.

“It will be business as usual with a bit of fitness and a bit of ball work at our training ground.”