Brentford manager Terry Butcher has revealed that he has spoken to former Hibs and Colchester goalkeeper Simon Brown about a possible move to the club. The 30-year-old Brown has been released by Hibs where he was well known to Butcher, who spent four years as manager of Motherwell and a few weeks at Partick Thistle as assistant manager at the end of last season.

"Simon is one of several players to whom we have spoken and we are interested in him. I know quite a bit about him from my time in Scotland and I rate him highly. He's an excellent goalkeeper with a lot of experience and know-how," said the Brentford manager.

Meanwhile Paul Brooker has been linked with Brighton, while centre-back Matt Heywood is believed to be a target for Wycombe. The pair both have a year to run at Brentford and whilst there are rumours over the future of the duo Butcher says no formal approaches have been made.

"I have had talks with Paul Brooker's agent about what happened at the end of last season when the fans booed Paul off at Tranmere and he responded with a gesture. The agent knows how we feel and I am aware how Paul feels, but I am not prepared to comment further. We will have to see where his future will be," said Butcher.

Elsewhere in the division Shrewsbury Town have completed a move for Preston North End youngster Dave Hibbert. The twenty-one year old joined Preston from Port Vale for £150,000 and last season had loan spells at Rotherham and Bradford. The move to Shrewsbury is for a nominal fee. Hibbert hopes that Shrews can help him continue his development.

"I went down and looked at the facilities and the new ground and obviously it's a club that's going places and I want to be a part of that," said the player. "There are a lot of young lads here who want to develop and I'm hungry to improve my game and think it's the right move for me. Gary Peters was at Preston and people there talked about him and I've heard good things about him and was keen to come here. Shrewsbury haven't got the budget to go out and get the big names so they've got to develop the young players and I hope that they can do that with me."

Also putting the finishing touches to deals this week are Wycombe and Barnet. The London based side have swooped for Neal Bishop. The former York City player was out of contract at Bootham Crescent and has elected to move South and into league football. Bishop is a current England Non-League XI international player and was a key part of the successful Four Nations Tournament in Scotland. The Chairboys meanwhile have agreed to sign David McCracken from Dundee United. The signing of the defender comes shortly after the club missed out on Neil Lennon.

"Getting David makes up for the disappointment of missing out on Neil Lennon," said manager Paul Lambert. "I'm absolutely delighted to land a player that I regard as a top class defender. I know some people in England are sceptical about the standard of Scottish football, but remember that David has played over 200 games at the highest level and he's come up against strikers like Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton and John Hartson on a regular basis. He's a top quality signing and one that I'm sure our fans will be delighted with."

Finally following his move to Wrexham former Hartlepool United forward Eifion Williams, who was linked with a move to Darlington, has been singled out as an important signing by manager Brian Carey.

"Eifion is someone we were looking at towards the end of last season, but he wasn't available then. To get him now is a big signing for us as we look to strengthen the squad in readiness for the coming season. He had the chance to join several other clubs, indeed they were still ringing him as he arrived in Wrexham to complete his move. Eifion has a great deal of experience having played in Europe with Barry Town and then enjoyed a couple of promotion campaigns with Hartlepool United. Throughout it all he has been a regular goalscorer and he also offers us the option of using himself out wide," he said.