BURY have handed a trial to South African midfielder Dean Furman.

The former Chelsea trainee was handed a start in today's match at home to Preston North End - the club's final pre-season friendly before the start of the League One season.

Furman, aged 27, was released from Doncaster in the summer after scoring three goals in 74 appearances for the south Yorkshire club over the past two seasons.

He started his career as a trainee at Chelsea before making one appearance for Glasgow Rangers in a three-year stint with the Scottish giants.

The South Africa captain, who has made 25 appearances for his country, got his first real taste of first-team football while spending the 2008/09 season on loan at Bradford, where he scored four goals in 33 matches.

The winger then made a permanent move to Oldham, where he played 148 games and scored nine goals over four seasons.

A brief loan spell at Doncaster at the end of the 2013 season preceded a permanent switch.

Furman's agent this week dismissed the chances of the player signing for South Africa side Kaiser Chiefs as "slim". 

Bury boss David Flitcroft is also expected to take a further look at 23-year-old trialist Reece Brown.

The brother of Sunderland centre-back Wes Brown has had nine clubs in his short career, starting at Manchester United and more recently playing 18 games at Barnsley last season.

Brown came on as a second-half sub at Macclesfield in Bury's first match of the pre-season and started at Morecambe but missed the midweek game against Blackburn.

He starts of the bench today.