ALAN Knill was assessing his options on a number of trialists after Bury lost their first two games of pre-season in 2010.

Defeats to Burnley and Radcliffe Borough were not a big issue to the Shakers boss, who had just wrapped up the signing of midfielder Steven Schumacher.

But keen to bolster his ranks further, Knill was close to making a decision on several players who had caught the eye in the first couple of weeks of pre-season training.

Among them, former Rotherham United right-back Mark Lynch, ex-Lincoln City striker Lenell John-Lewis and Kyle Bennett – brother of ex-Bury star Elliott.

Simon Whaley had returned to Gigg looking for a contract – four years after he had quit the club for Preston North End in a £250,000 move – and Knill was also looking at Spanish playmaker Alexis Uruena Cembero and full-back Duane Samuels.

“One or two of them have given us a bit to think about,” admitted assistant boss Chris Brass. “We’ll look over the next couple of days to see who we want to keep and who we want to move on.

“Kyle Bennett is certainly a player we have known about for a while. He has a lot of energy and he has shone in the two games so far.”

Flashback photo

Bury Times:

This lovely picture was taken by photographer Dave Howarth during the Shakers’ League One game against Fleetwood Town on August 18, 2015. The game itself was also memorable as Fleetwood twice came from behind to win 4-3. Leon Clarke, Tom Soares and Danny Rose scored Bury’s goals with Connor McLaughlin, Tyler Hornby-Forbes, David Ball and Jamie Proctor on the scoresheet for the Cod Army.

This week in Shakers history

1963: Bury’s longest-serving player, Donald May, quit football to move into the building industry.

1965: Bury boss Bob Stokoe made the long drive to Darlington to complete the signing of Jack Maltby, who had given up teaching to become a full-time professional. The former Sunderland player had impressed Stokoe while playing part-time at Darlo, and was signed to play as a foil to Colin Bell at Gigg Lane. He spent two seasons with the club before emigrating to South Africa and playing in Durban.

1968: Oldham Athletic’s Ian Towers arrived at Bury for £15,000 as leading goalscorer Bobby Owen completed the formalities of a £45,000 move to Manchester City. A winger who had played as a centre-forward at Boundary Park, Towers would be unable to prevent the Shakers from dropping out of Division Two that season and would also move on to South Africa the following year.