David Holdsworth has pulled off his best signing of the January transfer so far by completing a deal for Luke Foster. The centre half has signed an 18 month deal this afternoon after Mansfield agreed a fee with Oxford United for the defender. DH fought off interest from 2 other BSP clubs to secure his signature.

Foster made over 90 appearances for Oxford in just fewer than 3 years at the club and firmly established himself in the squad at centre half. Previous to his move to Oxford he had played for a range of clubs including Lincoln City and York City. But after the signing of Jake Wright from Brighton, Foster found himself on the transfer list despite playing 22 games this season.

Holdsworth had enquired about Foster last week but said he was priced out of a deal for him because we couldn’t afford his wages.  However, it was revealed today that Steve Hymas had joined the board of directors at the club. Hymas invested into the club straight away and gave Holdsworth some money to work with. It’s quite clear to see that Holdsworth has used this money to secure the signing of Foster.

Foster is a quality player at this level and is a great signing for us. He will certainly makes Jones and Garner be on the top of their games as he will be looking to break into the squad straight away. I expect Foster to go straight into Saturdays starting 11 against Chester in the place of Garner. Part of the deal is that he cannot play against Oxford when we meet on the 17th April.

This signing also puts pressure onto Michael Brough. With Kyle Nix soon to be returning from his injury his chances of playing central midfield for us are going to be very very limited. His only chance of playing comes in defence. But with Jones, Garner and now Foster to compete with he has his hands full. He can also play right back which (unluckily for him) is where our most consistent performer plays. Gary Silk. It will be interesting to see what role DH has in mind for him over the next few months.

Our team certainly looks stronger now than what it did coming into January. The signings of Foster, Jon Shaw and with the several loan deals being made permanent, we have good quality throughout the squad and most importantly great cover in all positions should players get injured.

In other news, Aaron Brown who joined us on trial last week has signed for AFC Telford.  The tall defender obviously didn’t impress Holdsworth in his short stint at Field Mill.