BRIDPORT boss Rob Marquis has revealed he is scouring the market for the best lower league players.

Marquis and assistant Shaun Annetts have secured the services of some of the county’s best young players.

Their efforts have partly contributed to an upturn in fortunes for Bridport Reserves in the Dorset Premier League (DPL), the Bees currently ninth of 18 teams having struggled last season.

However, finding players of Western League quality remains the Holy Grail for Marquis, who has been monitoring the form of the best DPL players.

He told the Bridport News: “I’ve scoured the DPL and there’s a lad at Bournemouth Sports (Jack Voisey) who’s banging the goals in.

“What have I got to offer him to bring him from Bournemouth to us? It’s part of the problem.

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“When you’re down there and want to try and bring somebody in, people take a look and think: ‘Do I really want to get involved in that?’

“It’s a chicken and egg scenario. Shaun and I had a conversation and at the end of the day, in the area we are and with the budget we’ve got there’s not an awful amount of players out there we’re missing out on.

“There are some playing DPL who could play Western League but they’ve got no desire to play Western League and challenge themselves. That’s their prerogative.

“There are definitely players of the calibre that can help us but they’re probably getting paid similar money to play for teams in Dorset as what they they get for playing for me.

“Do they want to go all the way to Cornwall for the same amount? Probably not. So you can’t blame them in some ways.

“It’s a difficult scenario for me. We could do with two or three good calibre players just to bolster the squad.

“We’ve got plenty of good players but with players missing – nothing against anybody that plays – we’re just not strong enough as a squad in some departments if we’ve got people missing.”