RICHIE Wellens is open to the idea of adding a goalkeeper with Football League experience behind him that can push Luke McCormick for the club’s number one shirt.

However, the addition of a fourth first-team goalkeeper will largely depend on the budget Wellens has to work with – meaning a deal is likely to take place later than sooner.

McCormick along with Will Henry and academy graduate Archie Matthews make up Town’s goalkeeping options as it stands.

But, in an ideal world, the Town boss would like to include another stopper for goalkeeping coach Steve Mildenhall to work with – in hope that it can encourage healthy competition between the sticks.

“I want someone with league experience to push Luke McCormick and Will Henry,” said Wellens.

“I won’t be going down the young goalkeeper route on loan, because Will Henry is quite capable of filling that gap.

“I would like someone more experienced to push Luke and Will. But obviously that will depend on the budget.

“I’m quite comfortable with the idea of going into the start of the season with Luke McCormick as my number one.

“But I would like someone to push him very strongly.”

A variation of pre-season friendlies will grant the 39-year-old a better picture of what he has to work with both in goal and outfield.

Seven dates have been confirmed, with five fixtures against non-league opposition occurring before midland clubs Birmingham and Coventry City visit the County Ground.

A trip to Melksham Town rounds off Town’s pre-season schedule four days before the start of the League Two season.

Discipline and shape will be monitored during Town’s pre-season games, while opportunities will be aplenty for the club’s youngsters.

Wellens added: “It’s about getting all the different types of footballer that we are likely to face in our league.

“We can go away to certain grounds where the pitch won’t be great and we’ll have to deal with long balls.

“That’s why we’ve got three or four non-league games – and it’s good to get out in the local community for those games too.

“We’ll look at our discipline and shape and how we react when we’re off the ball. The big ones are the games against Birmingham and Coventry where the pace will be like a league match tempo.”