Steve Burr is aiming to add the finishing touches to his Chester FC squad but admits his hands are tied until goalkeeper John Danby leaves the club.

The Blues boss said he was monitoring the situation of an unnamed midfielder but said that until a club came in for the transfer-listed goalkeeper, no more players would be arriving at the Swansway Chester Stadium.

Danby has been out of favour at Chester since Burr’s arrival at the club back in January, with the Blues boss bringing in loanee Aaron Chapman for the final months of last season before signing Jon Worsnop this summer.

Bermudan international Freddy Hall played the first half of Saturday’s 4-2 win at Marine, with the ex-Toronto FC stopper aiming to win a deal with the Blues to provide cover for Worsnop.

But Burr, who declared himself pleased with his side’s performance – particularly that of two-goal trialist George Thomson – said all transfer plans were on hold for the time being.

“There is a midfielder that I would like to bring to the club that would be a good addition.

“But with us using the surplus budget we had to bring in Gareth Roberts, we will have to wait for John to leave first,” said Burr.

“We’ve had no concrete interest from clubs in John and he has been available for transfer since May.

“We did have some interest from Altrincham initially but that has died down and we are as we were with the situation. I’ve not had a phone call from anyone else.

“I know that the move has to be right for John as well and we’ll be trying to get some movement with the situation sooner rather than later.”

One player who will be hoping the Blues find room in their budget is 22-year-old attacking midfielder Thomson, contracted to Evo-Stik Premier Division side King’s Lynn Town, who produced an eye-catching display against Marine.

The ex-Nottingham Forest trainee netted twice and put in an assured performance, showing glimpses that he could well be an unearthed gem for the Blues, who have activated a clause in his contract.

But Burr is wiser than to judge his trialists on one pre-season friendly and said he will take his time before making a decision on any of the hopefuls.

“George impressed me. You can’t do too much more than he did on Saturday,” said Burr.

“He’s a talented player. He scored two goals and had a good game, but we will be taking another look at him and the others for the next couple of games and we’ll see what happens.”

Having had the benefit of seeing his new-look squad in training at the club’s state-of-the-art facilities at MBNA for the past week-and-a-half, Burr says he won’t truly know what his side is capable of until well in to the new season.

“I’ve seen plenty of pre-seasons and you can never read too much into them,” said the former Kidderminster Harriers and Northwich Victoria boss.

“I don’t think I will know where the squad is at and how they measure up to other sides that I’ve managed until about 10 games in to the season.

“They’ve looked fit and sharp during training and there are no concerns on that front.

“Myself and Jon (McCarthy) will get a better idea about them with each game that passes and we’ll be making sure that they’re fully prepared for when we start at home to Barnet next month (August 9).”