MICHAEL Clegg is bidding to “re-energise” his Warrington Rylands squad to emerge from a glitch in form – and he is preparing to add fresh blood to the group to help him.

It is understood Blues have agreed a deal to bring Warrington-born striker Dan Cockerline to the club to boost their attacking options, with an extension of Djavan Pedro’s loan from Salford City also in the offing.

Cockerline has scored seven times in 16 appearances for Newcastle Town in the Northern Premier League West Division this season and it is anticipated a deal should be complete in time for him to feature against Whitby Town at Gorsey Lane on Saturday.

That game will see Blues bid for their first win since beating league leaders Radcliffe last month, with three draws and a defeat in their four outings since then.

Marske United’s resignation from the league and the expected expunging of their playing record will boost them in that all of the teams around them will lose points while their tally remains unaffected, but Clegg is confident a corner is about to be turned.

“We’re not a million miles away, but we’re on our own journey,” he said.

“We knew we’d have this at some point and its come now. In terms of where we are, we’re still second and we still believe in the group.

“I don’t know this as a fact but I don’t think there will be many teams who have used fewer players than us, so we’re squeezing everything out of the players.

“We’ve hit a little bit of a ceiling but for us, it’s about getting back at it.

“We’re just over halfway and for us, if you’d have offered us this position at this stage we’d have been buzzing.

“We just have to re-energise this group, let some lads get fitter and fresher and maybe bring in a signing or two to ignite a little bit more into us.

“We’re all so proud of what we’ve achieved – we didn’t think we’d be here at the start of the season when our budget got halved, but we’ve done it with lads who we can trust.

“We are where we are, and we go again.”

Saturday sees them face another rival for a play-off spot, with Whitby currently top of the NPL Premier Division form table having taken 13 points from their past six games before losing 1-0 to fellow high-fliers Worksop Town at the weekend.

They sit sixth in the table, four points behind Blues, and Clegg is not surprised by the rise of Nathan Haslam’s side.

“They’ve got a great gaffer there and he’s a top guy as well,” he said.

“It was a really tight game when we went up there and they could have beaten us. They brought it back to 1-1 and dominated us for 10 minutes, but we got them late on.

“I’m not surprised they are up there, but nothing surprises me at this level.”

Meanwhile, rumours of interest from higher up the football pyramid in leading goalscorer Adamah Sidibeh are gathering pace.

The Gambian frontman has netted 15 times this season, attracting the attention of several Football League and National League sides.

However, it is understood that interest has not translated into an official offer yet.