BURY secured the loan signings of Sheffield Wednesday youngster Sean Clare on Saturday and Chesterfield’s attacking midfielder Danny Gardner in midweek, but the hunt for a centre-back continues.

While Gardner is tried and tested at League One level, playing more than 30 games for the Spireites this season, Clare is a little more of a step into the unknown.

A product of the Nike Academy, a revolving squad of unsigned under-20 players, Clare turned professional on February 23 after penning a three-year deal with the Owls.

But now the 19-year-old is being offered game time at Bury after joining on a youth loan deal until the end of the season.

The midfielder made his debut at the weekend against Bradford, and manager David Flitcroft admitted he had been watching the highly-rated youngster for quite a while.

“We have been watching him in under-21 games and we have been looking at what the Nike Academy do,” he said.

“We had a game lined up against the Nike Academy but, with the state of our injuries, we couldn’t play them. We delved back into our scouting reports and Sean came up so we made some enquiries and with Jacob Mellis being out for five to six weeks it gives us the opportunity to bring Sean in.

“He has been ripping it up in the 21s. It was an opportunity we could take and one we could afford, so he is in with us now and we have just got to see how that develops.”

Meanwhile, the search for a centre-back is still on after skipper Nathan Cameron underwent surgery on his knee cartilage yesterday.

With the squad down to the bare bones, Flitcroft insists he has been trying everything to bring in cover.

He said: “If I said we have spoken to about 40 centre-halves and got knocked back on every one, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

“It has been obscene. Everyone’s after certain players and everyone’s looking for a centre-half.”