Steve Davis set to try and entice Fred Barber back as goalkeeping coach.

Steve Davis has told the club’s official web-site that he has had ‘a conversation’ with the experienced Fred Barber about returning as goalkeeping coach. Barber joined the club for the second half of the season to help coach youngster Ben Garratt and later the incoming Paul Rachubka after Scott Shearer was allowed to leave on loan for Burton Albion in search of first-team football.

The former Bolton and Northern Ireland goalkeeping coach was credited with working both Garratt and Rachubka hard and following Shearer’s departure this summer for League Two side Mansfield Town, Davis has already expressed his interest in seeing Barber return to work with the club’s goalkeepers.

Davis is to move away from a more senior goalkeeper coaching his current number one Garratt following the success of Steve Phillips’ fulfilling that role when he was here at the Football Club and the indifferent success of Shearer taking on the role. It was evident that 34-year-old Shearer preferred playing to coaching and he didn’t take an active role in the Academy like Phillips had done previously.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “I’ve spoken to Fred about the possibility of him returning to work with Ben, so we will have to see what he wants to do.

He added: “I want to move away from the idea of a senior goalkeeper coaching the younger ones. It is something I don’t think worked last time. I want a goalkeeper to come in and put that pressure on Ben and push him.”