AFC Telford poised to sign Chris Sharp from The New Saints

AFC Telford United were today poised to sign striker Chris Sharp from The New Saints – after agreeing to pay a transfer fee for only the third time in their history.

Telford chairman Lee Carter this afternoon insisted they had not yet completed any deal for the 25-year-old, the son of former Everton and Scotland forward Graeme Sharp.

But a statement released by the Oswestry-based Welsh Premier League club confirmed the departure of former Bangor City hitman Sharp – who has scored 22 goals in 39 appearances for the Saints.

Telford boss Andy Sinton has been keen to improve his attacking options for some time and also added ex-Boston United striker Spencer Weir-Daley to his squad last week.

Sharp will join for an undisclosed fee and it is not clear whether that will eclipse the club record £5,000 paid to Tamworth for Lee Moore in December 2006 or the £3,000 paid to Radcliffe Borough for Steve Foster in May of the same year.

Meanwhile, boss Sinton has called for more professionalism from his squad – despite hailing a stunning fightback as they came from 2-0 down to salvage a point at Tamworth yesterday.

And he highlighted the case of longest-serving player Carl Rodgers, who was absent for much of pre-season and has not featured in the league so far.

"We started training on June 24 and Carl Rodgers decided to go on holiday on June 24 and missed the first two weeks," said Sinton.

"No sooner had he come back than he was at at a wedding and then he picked up an injury, which was no fault of anyone's, so he's only played 45 minutes all pre-season.

"You can't come in and play against full-time boys like Lincoln, Luton or Tamworth and do yourself or the team justice with so little football behind you.

"It's an area where I'm asking the players to be more professional," he added.

"People will either buy into my professionalism or they will get left behind."

By CHRIS HUDSON