Yellows reunion for boss Burr

Burr (47), who led Town to the Unibond League's Premier Division title in a hugely successful 12 months at Watnall Road during the 2003/2004 season, has been in charge at Stalybridge since May.

He left The Yellows under a cloud in the row about the club's failure to win promotion because the ground was not up to scratch.

But he insists he is now firmly on friendly terms with the club.

At the time of his exit, Burr fell out with Town chairman Brian Holmes after the manager asked for permission to speak to Northwich Victoria.

He ended up joining Northwich, who were duly knocked out of the FA Trophy by The Yellows the following season!

Now, however, Burr is in regular contact with Holmes and also the club's football secretary Brian Scothern and is eager to see Town do well – although not at the expense of Stalybridge.

Said Burr: "I had a great time at Hucknall. I enjoyed every minute of it.

"Everyone at the club was superb and the supporters were great.

"The club have come a long way in a short time and I know that Brian Holmes is very ambitious to get them into the Blue Square Premier.

"I am very much looking forward to seeing some old familiar faces on Saturday.

"I have no regrets about leaving Hucknall when I did. You make your decisions there and then and, at the time, I decided it was time to move on. But I always keep an eye out for the Hucknall results.

"It was a shame we couldn't get the promotion to the Conference that year but we knew the situation. I think the side we had would have done well in that league."

Burr says he is disappointed to see Town in the position they are in but believes they are more than capable of getting out of trouble.

"Hucknall will be disappointed with their start without a doubt," he said.

"But their performances have picked up under the new manager and they had a good result against Worcester.

"I hope they get out of trouble. They should be able to because they have some good players, such as Danny Mayman, Danny Bacon and Gary Ricketts.

"It is always hard to play against a side when a new manager has taken over. We will not be taking Hucknall lightly. Anyone can beat anyone in this league and Saturday's game will be tough.

"But the side I have here at Stalybridge should get into the play-offs. We need to stop being inconsistent."

Town visit a Celtic side who sit in seventh place on 21 points in the Blue Square North table and who boast several players with experience in the Football League.

The Bower Fold outfit have six wins from their 14 fixtures and only one home defeat. But they go into the Town clash on the back of a 3-0 reverse at AFC Telford United.

Three potential dangermen are a trio who achieved reasonable personal success at Stalybridge’s near-neighbours, Coca-Cola League One side Oldham Athletic.

Professional footballer turned actor Chris Hall was tipped to have a bright future at Boundary Park and made 44 appearances for the Latics after coming through the youth system.

However a desire to tread the boards got the better of him in the summer and he left to pursue his acting dream.

Hall (20) signed for Stalybridge in July and the powerful and pacy frontman has been an instant hit this season, scoring eight goals.

Playing alongside Hall could be fellow Oldham youth product, Matty Barlow, who made more than a dozen appearances for the Latics.

The 20-year-old Barlow signed for Celtic in January and has hit five goals for the Tameside outfit this term.

Carlos Roca (23) is a speedy winger with bags of tricks who made 26 appearances for Oldham and Carlisle United.

He joined Stalybridge in August and also played under Burr at Northwich Victoria. So far this season, he has notched five goals.