BRIAN HUGHES has signed crowd-pleasing striker Jody Bevan for his second spell at Cirencester Town on the eve of the new Zamaretto League kick-off on Saturday.

Bevan was a surprise name on the team sheet when Ciren held Swindon Town to a 3-3 draw in their last pre-season friendly and signed immediately after the game.

Hughes is delighted to have captured Bevan, who has scored more than 200 non-league goals, including 23 for Cinderford Town last season.

“Before pre-season started, Jody and I had a chat about coming here, but I told him I wanted to assess my strikers,” said Hughes.

“After the disappointing Slimbridge defeat, when we didn’t have a shot on goal, I asked him to come down and play in the Swindon friendly.

“It was no coincidence that we scored three goals that night and Jody signed straight afterwards.

“He may not be the purist of footballers but he gives you everything he’s got and has an eye for goal.

“Also, he is a great character around the dressing room.”

Bevan played for Ciren Town in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. In 2003-04, when Gareth Hopkins was the club’s top scorer with 24 goals, he spent a lot of time on the bench but still managed to outscore first team regular Scott Griffin 17 goals to 14.

The following season, Jody added nine more goals with Gareth and Griff chipping in 13 goals apiece. After moving on to find first team football, Bevan continued to be a prolific scorer and fans favourite at both Gloucester City and Cinderford. Hughes is hoping to finalise his squad after a training session on Tuesday night. A dozen players have already signed forms: Jody Bevan, Matt Bath, Carl Brown, Craig Curtis, Rob Dean, Scott Griffin, Andy Minturn, Jamie Reid, Lee Stevens, Marvin Thompson, Lyndon Tompkins and Zak Westlake.

“Like all 22 managers in the league, I want to be up there challenging,” said Hughes.

“We let in far too many goals last season and I think we have addressed that in the summer.

“I want us to be hard to beat, more resilient away from home but with the same free-scoring style at home.

“As for the best system to play, we did best last season with five in midfield and just one up front, so we will have to see.”

Hughes maintains that the reduced width of the Corinium Stadium pitch this season is not his doing.

“It was nothing to do with me. The groundsman made a decision to take three feet from each side because the grass hasn’t been growing where the linesman used to run.

“Having said that, good wide men are hard to find and we have lost Steve Davies who, along with Carl Brown, was fantastic out wide at home last term.”

Cirencester Town open their campaign with a visit to Paulton Rovers (3pm) on Saturday and entertain Bishops Cleeve at home on Tuesday night (7.45pm).