Shakers could pay for loan success

7:45am Thursday 1st May 2008

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ALAN Knill fears the success of Bury's loan players during their time at Gigg Lane could hinder his chances of bringing them back to the club.

Elliott Bennett, Darren Randolph, Adam Rooney and Efe Sodje have all contributed to an incredible upturn in the last three months, with the Bury boss already having made speculative inquiries about securing their services again next season.

Initial responses from the likes of Charlton and Wolves have been good, but Knill concedes he may have a fight on his hands from clubs further up the Football League. The Shakers manager said: "We have spoken about most of them. The problem is they do well and, with the greatest respect, bigger clubs like what they see.

"All we can do is try and make them better and hopefully they enjoy the experience. If they do well, we will try to take them back."

What will count in the Shakers' favour is that the quartet of loan signings have all seemed to enjoy their time with the club.

Bennett returned to Molineux this week, reflecting on his temporary move to the North-west as a "brilliant decision."

And even if Knill doesn't get a chance to take the flying winger back again, he is sure word of mouth will mean more young talent arriving at Gigg Lane in the future to help their career.

"It is important that when the loan players do go back, that it is positive," he said.

"You are always in with a chance if the manager thinks this is a place his players can come and learn.

"Elliott has been outstanding. He has got a lot in his locker, it just needs tuning.

"At this level I haven't seen anyone who can match him for pace and if he can keep learning and listening, he can be a very good player."