Still sees loans as ‘false economy’ as he continues to grow his squad

Skipper Ronnie Henry missed the beginning of the season through injury and had a ‘jab’ last week before failing to make the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Welling.

But Still is committed to bringing in his own cover, as he said: “I don’t like loans, I like my own players, I always have done.

“If we have a problem, you’ve got to get a loan because you’ve got to solve the problem.

“The way I always work, I try and really, really work hard to try and improve players.

“I don’t want to improve them for another club, I want to improve them for this club.

“For me I want to try and get my own players unless we’re backs against the wall, desperate where we’ve got to bring someone in.

“And if I did loan different to that, it would always have to be a long loan so that I know that we are going to get the benefit out of it for a long period.

“Coming sometimes for a month, two months, they do well, and we help make them better and they go back to be better for someone else. I don’t really see that myself, but sometimes it’s necessary evils and I understand that.

“If I loan it will be because it really needs to benefit us short term and long term.”

The Town chief felt Southport summer signing Andy Parry deputised well at right-back at the weekend, while fellow midfielder Jonathan Smith and Alex Lawless can also full the void if necessary.

He continued: “I think Paz had done a great job for us in there. I just felt he could do that job and to be fair I thought he did it very well.

“Possibly one error in the game, but I think that in terms of the job that he done he was very sound.

“It was one of them games where we were spasmodically under pressure, be we weren’t under pressure where you’re defending the whole game.

“So we didn’t have to make too many decisions, but in general in the game I thought his decisions were very good.

“I thought he put a great ball in for the goal at the back stick that got knocked back across for Benno (Paul Benson), and I thought he did a sound job.

“But I see him as a centre midfield player that can play centre-half first and then he can play right-back.

“That may change, for various reasons, but he showed in that game he could do that job.”

Teams like Hereford United and arch rivals Watford last season have enjoyed some real success with teams largely made up of loan players.

But Still believes it will always be a false economy, adding: “I remember many years ago Hereford go promotion from Division Two to Division one with Graham Turner and I think they had eight or nine players on their books.

“And the following season they obviously all went back and they couldn’t get the same loans and they got relegated again.

“That’s false economy to me, live now pay later. I’m not a subscriber to that, I want to make my team better and keep growing it.

“And sometimes you have to take a hit and don’t progress as quickly as you would like, but when you do progress you can keep progressing. That’s the way for myself anyway.”