Workington Reds have announced they are releasing a new batch of shares as they look to move the club forward.

New interim joint chairman John Mackay said the board were looking to balance next year’s budget and keep Reds on track.

The shares will initially be offered to current shareholders and the remainder will go on public sale from February 14.

The proposal went before the shareholders’ meeting at December’s AGM.

“This is a new share issue with up to £100,000 worth of shares,” explained Mackay.

“It went to a shareholders’ meeting at the AGM back in December and everyone there was in agreement, there were no dissenters.

“We are looking to try and balance a budget for next year so that new money does not fall down a black hole.

“All present shareholders will receive notification that they have until February 13 to tell us if they wish to buy any more shares.

“Then we will know how many will go out to the public.”

The shares will be issued at the price of £1 each but the minimum purchase will be 100 shares.

If anyone is interested they can contact John Mackay on 01946 841429/07912 859480 or email john.mackay52@btinternet.com

At the moment names will go on a reserve list until numbers are confirmed.

On the pitch, Reds are sweating on the fitness of midfielder James Earl ahead of tomorrow’s trip to struggling Mickleover Sports.

Earl limped off after 30 minutes in Reds’ 4-0 win over promotion hopefuls Whitby Town last Saturday and boss Lee Andrews admitted he is likely to miss this weekend’s action.

The news comes as a blow to Reds as they look to stretch their winning run in the league to five matches and close the gap on leaders Blyth Spartans, who are eight points clear of second-placed Workington.

Mickleover have lost each of their six league matches in 2017, including a 4-1 defeat at Borough Park last month, so present ideal opponents.

Andrews said: “We have to guard against complacency but we do that every game and we will approach it in the same way as we always do.

“In the first half against them the other week, they showed they are a decent team so we won’t be taking them lightly.

“They actually got the ball down and tried to play a bit so it might suit us to go up against a footballing team.

“I think it would probably be a bit of a scalp for them and they might think they owe us one for when they came up here. But we can’t wait for the next game to come and it’s always like that when you’re winning.”