Boss Rob Smith has been held up by red tape in his bid to strengthen the AFC Telford United squad – but insists a deal will be done by the weekend.

The Bucks chief has identified his No 1 target and is determined to have him in place for Saturday’s trip to Burscough in the Blue Square North.

He had hoped to be in a position to unveil his man today, but was frustrated yesterday by the reluctance of the player’s current club to waive the seven days notice period.

“There’s a few paperwork issues to iron out but I think it’s safe to say we will definitely have a new player in by Saturday,” Smith declared.

“The hold up is just to do with the expiry of the seven days’ notice – we were hoping the other club would waive it but they won’t.

“He will be with us at training on Thursday evening though, and we hope to sort it then and announce it on Friday.”

Meanwhile, club officials have announced former goalkeeper Kevin Charlton as the second player to be inducted into the club’s new Hall of Fame.

Charlton, who made 526 appearances between 1980 and 1992, joins legendary striker Jack Bentley on the roll of honour.

The Hall of Fame will be officially launched at an inaugural evening at the Whitehouse Hotel on Wednesday, November 26 – with two more legends to be revealed before the big night.