NEWPORT County AFC manager Graham Westley has played down the prospect of signing non-league winger Ryan Hawkins.

The St Neots Town player has been tipped to follow Tom Meechan from the Cambridgeshire club to Rodney Parade after training with the Exiles last week.

But Westley refused to comment on the 21-year-old specifically, revealing that he regularly invites players to train with his teams.

“I look at tons of players,” he said. “If you came to the training ground most days there’d be somebody in here that I’m looking at.

“There’s available players, out of contract players or a player I’ve seen play once that I quite like the look of.

“I look at players every day and I talk about players who aren’t at the club if I do a deal with them.

“There’s never anything to talk about with players you’re having a look at until something’s done.”

But Westley did admit that he will be able to bring players in if he feels he needs to.

“I’ve agreed with the club that on a case-by-case basis we’ll assess the possibilities,” he added.

“But at the moment my priority isn’t bringing players in.

“I’ll always look at players because if we can strengthen I’ll always try to strengthen.

“It keeps the players that are here on their toes. They’ve got no sense of complacency knowing that we’ll always go out there and look for something and make the odd change as and when anything’s needed.

“But I think the first thing is to give the lads that are here a fair chance, let them show what they’re about and give them a chance to make their mark on the team.

“If we don’t have to bring anyone in because everybody here steps up to the plate then so much the better.”