Two in, two to follow and two more wanted at Buxton FC

The Bucks have brought in right-sided utility man Reece Fishwick and forward Martin Pilkington to the squad over the Bank Holiday Weekend.

Fishwick, a former Preston North End youth player, can play anywhere down the right-side of the pitch and recently had a spell at Prescot Cables.

Phillips said: “We’ve watched Reece for a time last year and we thought he was probably the best right-sided player we’d seen going forward.

“He can play as a winger, full-back, or wide midfield. He’s at the right age for what the club were looking and prioritising in up-and-coming players.

“It was a no-brainer to be perfectly honest. He’s got a great attitude and wants to go far in the game.”

While Pilkington, a former Ashton United front man, is returning to the game after three years out following a Football Association ban for breaching betting regulations.

“We’ve had a chat with the chairman and many different people,” said Phillips.

“The lad has learnt his lessons and deserves a second chance like everyone else.

“It might take him five or six games to get to where he wants to be in terms of fitness but he’s a fit lad anyway. It was another no-brainer for us.

“He comes in to help in one of the areas we did struggle in last year, in goals.

“We had him for three seasons before he had issues with the betting side of the game and he scored 25-28 goals on all occasions when we got to the play-offs.

“We had a look at the goalscoring department and wanted to reinforce that area where we struggled towards the end of the season.”

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Pilkington joins Liam Hardy, Diego De Girolamo and Brad Grayson in the attacking options available to Phillips.

“Martin’s a goalscorer who is a bit different to Liam and Diego,” he said. “He can play either side and a good all round number nine.

“We’ve got four players now up there who we can rely on to hopefully get us the goals to achieve our goal next year.

“On their day, I wouldn’t have many in front of Diego, Liam and Martin in this league.

“Liam’s been at the club for some time and I think towards the back end of the season fans saw the penny finally dropping with Diego.

“As a manager you always want a good forward line and if we can maybe get one more addition to that then I’ll be happy.”

Meanwhile Phillips hopes to have a goalkeeper and central defender with Football League experience tied up in the coming days.

But it’s unlikely Theo Roberts will be returning.

“We gave Chester every chance to accept an offer we felt was reasonable for the football club and reasonable for the level he’s been playing at for one season,” said Phillips.

“The lad is absolutely going to be a star but for me he’s still got a lot to learn. He’s a great kid off the pitch and I’ll be sorry to see him go but we’ve brought someone else in.”

Beyond that, Phillips is still keen to bring in a central midfielder and an attacker to compete with Pilkington, Hardy, De Girolamo and Grayson.