Eye on Danks: Glassboys in hunt for hotshot

Boss Gary Hackett has confirmed the club have been in touch with the 27-year-old hotshot – who ended his second spell at Worcester last month.

Danks, who lives in Stourbridge, is an experienced and proven goalscorer at non-league level and has also played for Bradford City and Forest Green Rovers.

Meanwhile, the Glassboys have ended their pursuit of Cradley Town frontman Matt Bailey, after it emerged he is under contract at the West Midlands Premier club.

Hackett said: “Mark is a Stourbridge lad who we know well and we have made an enquiry – as we have with several other players.

“Matt Bailey is another player we looked at and I did speak to the lad, as I didn’t realise he was under contract.

“As I have explained to Cradley boss Steve Daniels, any deal is dead in the water.”

This week Stour also confirmed most of last season’s squad have agreed to return for the new campaign, while defender Sam Smith has been handed a contract extension which will keep him at the club until 2012.

The centre-back endured a mixed 2010-11 as he continued to recover from cruciate surgery and Hackett believes he will be stronger than ever come August.

He added: “In many ways I will view Sam as a new signing and I think he’s going to be bigger, fitter and stronger than he was before the injury.

“It was a very serious injury and what a lot of people don’t realise is that even when you come back, it takes a long time to regain your sharpness back.

“You have to give full credit to Sam for the way he has worked to get back.

“I feel with our squad from last season we do not need major tinkering, though there will obviously be new people coming in.

“We won’t be rushed and it may be just before the start of the season we bring people in.

“Paul McCone was the classic example last year, he came in the week before the season and ended up playing over 50 games for us.”

Hackett is planning to speak to striker Justin Nisbett over the next few weeks.