ROGERS BIDES HIS TIME OVER NEW SIGNINGS

TIVERTON Town boss Martyn Rogers will bide his time before putting the finishing touches to his squad for the coming campaign.

His plans for the 2009/10 season suffered a setback when Scott Brice performed a shock U-turn and announced he would be joining Weymouth, rather than Tivvy, last week.

But Rogers says he will not panic and rush back into the transfer market to replace the defender. He said: "I think I have a few choices (at centre-half) anyway within the squad, so if Scott had come down it would have made it a real good competition for places.

"But I will probably look at what we have got in the squad and make my mind up (over whether to sign another player) in pre-season.

"I would like to complement the two front boys with another player and I have quite a few players coming to training (on trial), so there will be quite a few new faces to look at.

"I'm not going to be diving into any deals at the moment because I want to have a look at them in training first."

Rogers' pool of centre-halves could be further reduced if Matt Villis leaves Ladysmead to join Truro City this summer.

The former Torquay defender is having talks with the White Tigers, who have been chasing his signature for a year.

Rogers admitted he was aware of the interest in Villis from the Cornish big spenders, but remains adamant that he will not be dragged into a bidding war with the Treyew Road outfit.

Rogers said: "If players want to leave, they can leave and the only one up in the air at the moment is Matt Villis. He is talking to Truro.

"I have a reduced budget and have to cut my cloth accordingly. I don't want to lose Matt because he's a decent player — but needs must. It was always going to be difficult to keep hold of him, especially when Truro came knocking, because we cannot compete with them.

"The last time I spoke to Matt he said they were hot on his trail and I'm not going to get into an auction. If it's about money then we will come second best."

Winger Paul Jarvis' future remains unclear. He is seeking to continue his academic studies in his native Morecambe but Rogers says he is still waiting for confirmation that Jarvis will not be back at Ladysmead.