BRENDAN Kelly has shaken up his squad with the signings of Leamington midfielder Gift Mussa and Hednesford Town goalkeeper Daniel Platt.
The confirmation of the arrivals were announced on Wednesday afternoon, with Mussa in particular being a player that Kelly has chased since the summer.
The 23-year-old found chances hard to come by at the National League North outfit this season, but has rewarded Kelly and co. for their continued interest in making the move to Southern League Premier Central Bromsgrove.
“I’m very pleased with this addition, he had quite a few offers so I’m extremely happy he chose us,” said the Sporting manager.
“He’s a dynamic midfielder and will give us options, at the moment there are two or three other irons in the fire that we’re also pursuing.”
Commenting on the addition of a second keeper to the squad, Brendan added: “He has really impressed us with his keenness to join.
“He knows Jono holds number one and is willing to push for the shirt, which is brilliant to hear, he’s an extremely capable keeper and a very experienced stopper at this level.”
With no fixture played last weekend, Sporting’s injury-hit squad were given some respite ahead of a meeting with old rivals Peterborough Sports at Lincoln Road on Saturday (3pm).
Kelly admits he is still sweating over the availability of a number of players for the fixture, one which he believes Peterborough will be relishing given the rivalry between the two clubs for the entirety of last season.
“They’ve been brilliant so far this season,” he said.
“They had a slow start as they found their feet, like we did, and have also romped up through the leagues like we have and are a good side.
“Jimmy [Dean] has them playing some really good stuff, we’re the two top scorers in the league so it should be an excellent game.
“Where they are now is on merit, but maybe they will want to get one over us for beating them twice last season.”
Despite the lack of first-team action since a defeat to Coalville Town in the League Challenge Cup over a week ago, the Rouslers boss has been keeping busy, taking in the club’s under-18s impressive 5-0 win over Halesowen Town.
“When we’ve been having lots of injuries the way that we have, it’s important to know what’s coming through,” said Kelly.
“I’ve been to five or six games so far this season, four players already train with us on a weekly basis.
“We’ve had the likes of Matt Higgins appear for us, so it’s good that we’ve got a conveyor belt in place to the first team.
“The break has been good to reflect on what we’ve done so far, the lads that have been injured have had more time to recover and it’s amazing to see how much we’ve progressed in such a short space of time.
“At the same time, I’ve still not forgotten about the Banbury and Needham Market defeats, those are still at the forefront of my mind because of the lack of character that we showed in those games.”
