Accrington Stanley fear losing £200,000-rated striker Grant (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Accrington Stanley fear losing £200,000-rated striker Grant

9:31am Tuesday 17th November 2009

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ACCRINGTON Stanley assistant boss Jimmy Bell admits he fears losing top scorer Bobby Grant in January – but he thinks the striker is now worth at least £200,000.

The 19-year-old, previously a left winger, has been a revelation since being switched up front this season and has already notched nine goals.

Stanley have had no official approaches for Grant but Championship club Derby are rumoured to be interested.

And Bell knows the loss of Grant could all but end any play-off hopes the club have, as it did when Gary Roberts was sold to Ipswich for £200,000 and Ian Craney joined Swansea for £150,000 in January 2006.

“Of course I do fear losing him, and it would be deja vu after Gary Roberts and Ian Craney,” said Bell.

“From a selfish point of view I’d want to try to keep him, but it would be difficult to stand in a player’s way.

“There were a few scouts there for the Bury game last week but we’ve not had any concrete approaches for anybody.

“People are always on the look-out for left-footers. He’s very similar to Gary Roberts who played on the left wing but we moved him up front and he caught the eye with his goals in the Conference.

“What Bobby is worth depends what people are willing to pay but Gary Roberts went for about £200,000 to Ipswich and I’d think you’d be looking in that sort of area.

“I’d possibly say he’s worth a bit more than that, although maybe with our finances people might they think can pinch him.”

Stanley will wear their new home kit for the first time against Macclesfield on November 24 after unveiling it ahead of Saturday’s defeat to Dagenham and Redbridge.

The club have had to switch to new kit suppliers Joma and bring out a new strip after supply problems with Prostar, who made the previous kit.

The new home kit is expected to go on sale from the club shop on the day of the Macclesfield game, although Stanley will keep their yellow Prostar away strip until the end of the season.

The Reds are likely to receive around half of the gate receipts from their Johnstone’s Paint Trophy trip to Leeds, which has now been set for Tuesday, December 14 at 7.45pm.

Tickets for the match will cost £10 for adults and £5 for concessions, so Stanley could net around £35,000 if the gate is similar to the 10,000 that turned up for Leeds’ northern quarter final against Grimsby.

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