BUSTLING target man Jason Welsh has joined Cirencester Town as manager Brian Hughes bids to maintain the Centurions’ recent momentum, which has seen them go unbeaten in five matches.

Welsh, 27, will go straight into the squad for Town’s home game against Slough at the weekend and will start in the rescheduled Gloucester Senior Challenge Trophy game against Bristol City on Wednesday week. The original tie was frozen off last Thursday.

Welsh has played most of football in the Welsh leagues at Cwmbran, Merthyr Tydfil and, most recently with Welsh Premier side Port Talbot, although he has also had spells at both Gloucester City and Swindon Supermarine.

Hughes has been tracking him for some time but as a "foreign" player, Welsh could only change clubs during the current transfer window.

"Jason has trained with us a couple of times and, now his international clearance has come through, he will play in the rearranged Bristol City game, along with Craig Curtis and Lee Spalding," said Hughes.

Right back Spalding will be having his first outing since damaging knee ligaments in the middle of October, while ex-Academy star Curtis has been playing American University football for the past three years.

"We have some fantastic 18- to 20-year-olds, and some fine Academy kids coming through, what we lack is men like Jason," said Hughes.

"He is a good character, and he can play either centre forward or centre half.

"If Scott Griffin were to get injured, we had no one at the club who can hold the ball up as a lone striker in our favoured 4-5-1 formation – until now.

"Jason has not had many chances at Port Talbot and he needs to get his fitness up, but he is a wholehearted player who has joined in on a couple of our five-a-sides."

Welsh scored 13 goals from 35 appearances for Gloucester City in the 2006/7 season, when the side also found his link-up play and knockdowns invaluable.

A word of warning for Welsh’s team-mates – go easy when Jason makes his first strike for the club.

When he scored the second of his two goals for Gloucester City that helped them dump Tiverton out of the FA Trophy, he was forced to leave the field with a dislocated shoulder after finding himself at the bottom of the celebration huddle.