Stanley have been linked with a double Macclesfield raid for striker Tyrone Barnett and midfielder Hamza Bencherif.

The Reds management are also looking at ex-Walsall defender Mark Hughes, a target they have chased for a while and who was playing in Australia for North Queensland Fury until Ferbuary.

"Both Tyrone and Hamza are names that have been mentioned," said assistant boss Jimmy Bell. "But Tyrone is still under contract which probably does rule us out.

"We may lose Joe Jacobson as he has been linked with a move elsewhere and so we would need to strengthen our defence and Mark Hughes is an option."

Meanwhile it’s decision time for the Stanley players who have been offered new deals.

After releasing seven at the end of the season, all the remaining squad have been offered new contracts except Ian Craney who is the only player who has one year left on his current deal.

The rest are expected to say whether they will accept or reject the new offers over the weekend as manager John Coleman returned from holiday yesterday.

"We are just waiting," continued Bell. "We think we have offered them all decent deals, what we can afford, so we are just waiting for them to come back to us."

Striker Terry Gornell has been linked with a host of clubs including most recently Crewe while Scunthorpe are said to be eyeing midfield star Jimmy Ryan.

"It’s all rumours at the moment and we just hope they stay with us but we should know soon so we can start planning for next season," continued Bell.

Both Barnett and Bencherif are two of the names linked to the Crown Ground.

The Reds have previously signed ex-Macc players John Miles, Craig Lindfield, Sean Hessey and Michael Symes.

Highly rated Barnett, 25, is a former West Bromwich Albion trainee and has raised eyebrows since making the step up from non-league football, netting 13 times last season.

Barnett had been a long-term target for Macc boss Keith Alexander and his then assistant Gary Simpson, who snapped him up from Evo-Stik side Hednesford Town.

Coleman would face competition in the form of Crewe boss Dario Gradi in the hunt to snare Barnett, whose form this season has also attracted the attentions of League One and Championship clubs.

However, Simpson is reluctant to allow his prize capture from last summer to slip away on the cheap, and with a year left on his Macc Town contract, could well be outside the Reds’ price bracket.

Midfielder Bencherif is another on the Stanley shopping list and has yet to sign the new contract on the table at Macc.

The Algerian started his career as a Nottingham Forest trainee and, after a spell on loan at Lincoln, signed for Alexander’s Macc in summer 2009.

A highly impressive first half of that season was cut short by an horrific ankle break suffered at Rochdale, ending any hopes he harboured of going to the World Cup and facing England in the group stages.

The 23-year-old admits that last season he was still struggling for full fitness but was still one of the club’s more consistent performers and weighed in with 11 goals.

He says he is happy at Macclesfield but admits that he has aims of playing at a higher level.

"We should know more this weekend," continued Bell. "No one has committed yet, although I would have thought I would have heard if the likes of Andy Procter or Phil Edwards had plans to go elsewhere, and no one has said no but there is a deadline."

Chief executive Rob Heys said: "It has been a quiet week but the manager is due to speak to the players he has offered deals to over this weekend and get the answers.

"You want to give the players time to think about the new deals as that’s only fair but you don’t want them to keep you waiting while they try and get a better deal.

"It’s a fine line but hopefully we should know more by next week."

STANLEY will play a Blackburn Rovers XI on July 16. They are looking to finalise dates for other friendlies early next week.