TONY Hesketh has added a hint of Tangerine to his new look City side - and he'll be hoping for a dream start to the season this Saturday. The Blackpool cricket club captain will hang up his bat this weekend and concentrate on getting City closer to their target of promotion to the conference - with the help of no less than four players from his home town club.

The most well know of the quartet is Phil Horner. The former Halifax player was a favourite at Bloomfield Road in the early 1990s, and it was only the arrival of current Manchester City player Andy Morrison which pushed Horner to choose a non-league career at Southport, where he was captain. The versatile Horner, who can play in defence or midfield, signed after a trial.

Kevin Barnes starts his second spell at Giant Axe, after his first stint at the club ended abruptly with his league opportunity. Barnes failed to make the grade in the professional game, but his performance in a pre-season friendly win against his old club may make the seasiders wonder if they made the right decision. Former YTS trainee Scott Sugden also gave his old side food for thought when torturing an experienced 'pool XI in pre-season. Winger Sugden is expected to provide the ammunition as City strive to replace the lost goalscoring potency of the departed Peter Thomson. Sugden's trickery convinced Hesketh of his worth and he will see City as an ideal platform to rebuild a league career.

At just 20, midfielder Paul Haddow has already completed a grand tour of football's north Lancashire outposts. He started as a trainee at Blackpool, captaining the Youth and reserve teams before joining Carlisle (briefly) and finally Morecambe. Haddow also struggled to make the breakthrough at Morecambe and had a spell on loan at Barrow, where he struggled to prevent his side's slide down the league last year. Haddow, a ball playing midfielder, now has the chance to prove himself at northern premier league level.

Hesketh also had a butchers at Jamie Skeoch, nephew of former Liverpool great Mark Lawrenson, to fill the problem right back slot, but no deal has yet been done for the former Blackpool trainee.

Hesketh now has his own players and he must surely be looking for a top half of the table finish. City must now settle down after a high turnover of managers over the last few years and, if Hesketh is given a chance to build a side, the team on the pitch may be matching the club's off field ambitions by the time he starts ironing his cricket whites for next summer.

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