Chasetown boss joy at signings

Chasetown boss Charlie Blakemore believes he has finally plugged the gap left by Vaughan Thomas and Kyle Perry with the captures of Lucan Spittle and Jermaine Gordon.

Blakemore has been scouring the market for a dominant centre-half and a target man-type striker.

The Scholars chief was desperate for reinforcements, with young defender Sam Smith out for the season with damaged cruciate knee ligaments.

Ex-Redditch and Bromsgrove stopper Spittle could have made his debut in today's trip to Romulus, while former Woodford attacker Gordon will have to wait two weeks as he is serving a five-match ban.

Blakemore is also chasing one more player to ensure the Scholars stay in contention.

He said: "I know Lucan from old and he's strong, dominant character. With our other new defensive signings, Andy Penny and Todd Perry, they have tremendous presence, both physically and vocally, which we haven't had before.

"Andy has played most of his career in

the Conference North, but they have all got leadership qualities and with Joe Williams and Kevin Thompson, I've got options now.

"Jermaine is a big striker who I tried to sign in the summer and he's as strong as an ox. I've been looking for a target man to replace Kyle and he fits the bill.

"Losing six players the week after our FA Cup run ended was a blow but the hard work finding replacements has paid off.

"Both Lucan and Jermaine are six-foot three or four and give us real presence."

Suspended Gordon would struggle for a place anyway at the moment, with strike duo Dean Perrow and Danny Smith on fire at the moment.

Perrow grabbed a hat-trick in last week's 4-2 win over Malvern before replacement Nathan Lamey bagged the other.

Perrow, Smith and Lamey were also on target in Tuesday's 4-2 win at Dunstable, while Nick Hawkins grabbed the other.

"Danny and Dean have been fantastic," said Blakemore. "At the start of this season they were fantastic together but then Danny got a shoulder injury.

"They are both very mobile and athletic and get on like a house on fire. They also give defenders a horrible time and the two of them ran the defence ragged on Tuesday night."

Blakemore, meanwhile wants another piece of history on Tuesday – the record crowd for the British Gas Business Midlands division.

The manager is urging Chasetown fans to recreate the FA Cup atmosphere when they host leaders Leamington.

The Warwickshire side are expected to bring a healthy following to the Scholars Ground and Blakemore is hoping they can attract a 1,000-plus crowd. "We're hoping for a bumper crowd – the record is just over 1,000 and I think we should beat that," said Blakemore.

"They have got a good following, so I'm hoping the blue army will be in full voice to drown them out.

"Every week is a real test for us but this will be one of our biggest and it's important we get as much support as we can.

"But the lads can't wait because we're getting the ball down and passing it and playing good football."