Boss praise for departing goalkeeping coach Fred Barber.

Steve Davis has thanked his goalkeeping coach Fred Barber for the work he contributed during the second half of the season and admits that he hopes it is not the end of the 51-year-olds involvement with the Football Club.

Barber, previously a goalkeeping coach with Bolton Wanderers and the Northern Ireland national side, arrived at the club in January to coincide with Scott Shearer’s loan move to Burton Albion.

Barber worked with our young talented goalkeeper Ben Garratt before his injury and then worked closely with his replacement Paul Rachubka when the former Oldham and Leeds stopper arrived at the club in February.

Steve said of Barber: “Fred did a great job when he was here. He is a very experienced coach and was great around the place as well.

“He enjoyed it and I thanked him for his contribution. He worked closely with Ben and Paul and helped them improve and I think that is the way forward. I don’t think the player/coach works because at the end of the day they are battling for the same position in the team.

“I am not sure what Scott (Shearer) wants to do. He wanted to play games, so went on loan to Burton. Unfortunately he didn’t get too many opportunities to play at Burton either, so we will have to see what he is thinking.

“He has a year of his contract left here and part of Scott’s contract was made up of the coaching side of things.

The boss added: “Once he has had his break like everyone else, he will re-join us for pre-season training and we will see what the future holds.”