At the friendly against Port Vale on Saturday it was noticed in the team sheet that two previously un-signed players had been given squad numbers.  One was Liam Dolman and the other was Gavin Caines.  Today the signing of Caines was confirmed by the official site when the news came through that he had been handed a one year contract.

The former Walsall trainee and Cheltenham centre half had already played in a number of friendlies so far this pre-season without attracting too much praise from the fans but Mark Yates obviously sees more in him.

In his five years with Cheltenham he turned out over a hundred and seventy times and scored in eight of those games.

There were also two other signings earlier today although one was technically a re-signing.  Youth team players Zac Costello and Nathan Hayward both signed professional terms and will now become part of the squad available for Yates to pick from.

Hayward was signed up to us last season and made one first team appearance in the Setanta Shield against Burton Albion.  Bromsgrove born Costello is yet to appear but both of them did play in last nights WSC defeat against Evesham.

Liam Dolman, as expected, signed up later in the day on a one year deal and soon after that we bought in a new goalkeeper when the former Shrewsbury man, Jasbir Singh, signed on for a short term contract.