WINCHESTER City have lodged notice of approach with troubled South & West rivals Wimborne Town for winger Carl Preston.

With Wimborne about to slash their playing budget by more than 40 per cent and manager Steve Cuss seemingly heading for the exit door, City have made their move for the 24-year-old former AFC Bournemouth wideman.

Preston made two first-team appearances for Cherries and had a pre-season spell with Eastleigh following his release from Dean Court in 2009.

A brief stint at Weymouth followed before he caught the eye of several higher league clubs in a successful six-year stay with his home town club Poole. He has been with Wimborne since August this year.

Winchester’s director of football Dave Malone said: “We’re short of a left-sided player and Carl is decent. We put seven days in for him on Monday and we’ll see where it goes.”

With new midfielder Lewis Fennemore from Moneyfields settling in, it looks as if Micky Hubbard could be signing dual registration forms with Sydenhams Premier outfit Lymington Town.

“Last year Micky was really good in the Wessex League but, for some reason, he hasn’t hit the same levels this year,” Malone explained. “He’s not been consistent enough to hold a place down, but he’s too good to be sitting on the bench.

“Lewis Fennemore is miles off full fitness, but I’ve always liked him as a player and he fits our profile. He’s decent on the ball and he’s big and strong. If he’s motivated, he could be a hell of a player.

“We need someone like him with a bit of size and aggression otherwise teams in this league will batter you.”

Third-placed Winchester host seventh-placed Shortwood United on Saturday with just three points separating the sides.

City’s bench is likely to include new signing Hallam Basker from Croydon FC who was recommended to assistant manager Paul Wiltshire by an agent in that area.

He scored twice in Tuesday’s 5-2 Red Insure Cup victory over AFC Totton.

“The kid hasn’t played for six months, but I believe he was at AFC Wimbledon at one point and went to Dover and got injured,” said Malone.

“He played 70 minutes against Totton and he’s as quick as you like. He reminds me a lot of a lad we had at Eastleigh (who later played at Winchester) called Andrew White.

"He looks like he might be a player, but it’s early days.”