LAST minute tinkering has been continuing at pace at Clarence Park this week, with two new faces plus a newish one joining in for squad training.

Hamid Barr is a technically gifted attacking player who has been on QPR's books for the previous two seasons. He has been training with Portsmouth and Crystal Palace during pre-season but met up with the Saints on Tuesday night and is, says co-manager Gary Roberts, a "likely starter" when City kick-off their campaign against Ford United on Saturday.

Also at training was former British University international midfielder Ryan Spencer, who has been playing with Hayes, and a certain defender called Corey Campbell.

"You never know," said Roberts, when asked if the latter had returned with a view to a permanent stay.

If so, he would join newcomers Scott Oakes, Beckett Hollenback, Leon Townley, Duncan Roberts, Miguel De Souza and Gary Crawshaw, all of whom have signed contracts in the past week.

Roberts said: "All the players that have come here from big clubs have been very impressed with the ground, the organisation. A lot of people are speaking very highly of us."

He continued: "One of the advantages St Albans has is that we're not really expected to do very much this season. Everyone expects Purfleet, Billericay, Canvey, Grays and Aldershot to be the top five, judging by the money they've spent during the summer.

"But our pre-season has gone the way we wanted it to. We've got better every game and I think top six, top eight this season, and then next season, if we can maintain our fan base, I would expect us to be challengers even allowing for the fact that we won't spend anything near as much as those teams I've mentioned.

"But it's important the fans keep coming down. After the pre-season we've had, I would hope St Albans City will attract between 550 and 600 this season."

Those that are regulars should see City getting into full stride by mid-September. Before then, though, Ford United: "I saw them last year. They're a very competitive team a team used to winning. But we'll try to impose our own style on them."

Whether skipper Derek Brown starts is unclear after he suffered suspected knee ligament damage that could keep him side-lined for ten days. Definitely out of contention for the weekend are Rob Smith and Rob Keane, both of whom carry suspensions into the new season.

But with Smith unavailable for three matches, Dominic Naylor and Hollenback should have a bit of time to make the left side their own.

On the opposite flank, Jon Challinor's involvement was the subject of frantic activity in midweek, as City struggled to secure international clearance from America.

While Roberts' clearance dealings with Norway and Ireland had been concluded in an hour, the American authorities had, by Wednesday lunch, not responded for more than three weeks.

By the evening however, with prompting from the English FA, it is understood clearance had been received and Challinor is available for immediate selection.