NEIL YOUNG today confirmed that a deal for striker Chris Simm remains on the table.

The Chester boss is still waiting to hear whether the Sandgrounders are prepared to accept an offer tabled by the Blues for the forward who is currently on loan at Division One North leaders Chorley.

Young said: “I believe that Chris Simm wants to go back to Southport, but I’ve said to Southport that our deal for the player is still on the table.

“I’ve not spoken to Chris, so all this about us having a deal in place is wrong. I wouldn’t do that because he’s currently playing for Chorley and I would not speak to Chris because that’s not the way to do things.

“I believe in doing things correctly and I wouldn’t approach a player that is at another club, even if that club are our league rivals.

“Chris has obviously made the decision that he wants to go back to Southport, but it could also be that Southport manager Liam Watson wants him back because Liam has gone on record that he wants more goals.

“If the rumours are true I don’t want to attribute comments to the Chorley chairman through a forum.

“If the rumours are true then maybe it’s a little bit like sour grapes, but there is no deal in place here at this moment in time.

“A deal regarding the transfer fee is still on the table. Southport are aware of that and they have been aware of that since before Chris Simm’s loan period at Chorley started.

“We haven’t spoken to Chris who has games to play for Chorley. They might be our rivals. but it’s about doing things correctly and that’s what we’ll do.

“If Liam Watson rings me up tomorrow and tells me that Chris Simm wants to join Chester then I’ll meet Chris and we’ll see if we can thrash out a deal, but until that happens there is no deal in place.”

Meanwhile, Young was delighted to see his side secure all three points from their 4-1 league win at Harrogate Railway Athletic on Saturday.

He said: “Harrogate always start well and get in your faces, but we managed to stay strong and made sure we didn’t concede an early goal.

“We were a bit sloppy in the first half and made the wrong decisions, but I told the lads at half time that they had to be patient, and up the tempo slightly, because I thought Harrogate were tiring.

“I wanted us to keep turning their two centre backs and their left back around because I knew we’d then get in behind them.

“We were very lucky with our first goal because Iain Howard had missed a sitter inside the six yard box and it came off their lad and ended up in the back of the net.
“But I thought once we scored the game was only going to go one way.

“I thought Michael Wilde had a bit of a slow start and was a bit sloppy in the things that he did, but he was immense in the second half. He was everywhere, getting into people’s faces and running the channels.

“The worst thing that Harrogate could have done was upset him with an elbow in his face just before half time. He wasn’t happy about that and from then on I think he made it his mission to go on and score our goals.

“I thought there were some good performances, but a few lads who haven’t played a lot of football did get tired after Wednesday’s exertions at Witton.

“To come away from home and score four goals is always good, but we could have scored more in the end because the game really opened up.

“It was a pity we conceded a goal, but we don’t seem to win penalty decisions like other teams.”

Young, who has agreed to loan out defender Danny Meadowcroft to Bamber Bridge, revealed that 19-year-old midfielder Tom McCready had suffered an identical medial ligament injury that Mark Connolly had suffered at Witton.

“Tom went flying into a tackle in midfield which he won, but it looks like he’s come away with a medial ligament injury, the same as Mark Connolly, so I hope that’s not an ongoing thing.

“Once Tom came off I decided we’d go two up front because Harrogate were congesting the midfield and it was becoming a little bit of a battle.”

- Chester’s next match is on Wednesday against Rushall Olympic in the League Challenge Cup at the Exacta Stadium (7.45pm kick-off), and the Blues have made two fixture changes featuring matches against Leigh Genesis and Curzon Ashton.

The home match against Leigh Genesis originally scheduled for Wednesday, October 20, will now be played on Saturday, October 16 (3pm kick-off) and the Curzon Ashton match orginially planned for Tuesday, November 30, will now be played on Saturday, December 18 (3pm).