Hucknall Town boss has no hard feelings towards Liam Hearn

Liam Hearn will not be joining Hucknall Town. (PHOTO BY: Craig Lamont Photography)

The goal-getter had been expected to join the Yellows for the new campaign with speculation over his future rumbling on throughout the summer.

But this week it was confirmed the former EFL striker has joined ambitious Sherwood Colliery instead.

“We are glad the Liam Hearn saga is out the way now so we know where we are,” said Graves.

““We can focus elsewhere now. I have tried to be philosophical and have not fallen out with Wayne Savage (Sherwood manager), who was very apologetic.

“I haven’t fallen out with Liam. It is what it is and football moves in mysterious ways. I fully understand the reasons he has given me and all parties move on.

“We put a statement out on the club website to try and draw a line under it., we don’t want it dragging on with speculation on social media.”

Graves is now targeting an unnamed striker who was originally on the club’s radar back in February.

“As far as I am concerned we move on,” he said. “The guy we tried to bring in before we approached Liam is possibly coming to do a couple of trial games for us, because his position has changed since I first approached him.

“He was on a contract at a club when I first approached him and we couldn’t do anything at the time.

“Football changes quickly. My original target is unattached at the moment so we will see if we can persuade him.

“He has not played much recently. We are happy where we are.”

On the field the Yellows got off to a flier when they hammered Bridgford United 8-0 at the weekend.

And, although Graves is understandably not getting carried away, he was pleased with the contributions of his new players.

He added: “You can’t read much into it other than that the new players looked good.

“We brought five of them in and they played well. It looked promising for a first game when you consider the heat.

“We were 7-0 up at half-time and had a good tempo.

“Pre-season is about fitness and results don’t mean much. The new lads settled in really well.

“Some are young lads who will spend a bit of time in the reserves, but i'm confident they will step up when needed. We are in a good position and happy.”