WILLAND Rovers boss Clive Jones hopes new man Darren Hawkings will give his side a much-needed lift.

The Silver Street outfit were unable to end their four-game winless run on Saturday when their Western League Premier Division encounter with Odd Down was postponed.

Yet Jones is under no illusions that his side need a boost following a poor end to January which saw them crash out of the FA Vase and surrender top spot in the league, so the boss has snapped up experienced centre-back Hawkings, as well as welcoming Shaun Goff back into first-team contention after a year out with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

"Darren's 36 and I want a real man on the pitch at the moment," said Jones. "I'm not sure who he will replace but he is going to play – in the last three or four games we haven't been good.

"Shaun coming back is a big plus for me. He has worked so hard to get back because it was a horrible injury so I'm really pleased for him.

"The mood is low at the moment. They are a smashing bunch of players but they are not playing well at the moment so I thought I would change it around a bit.

Willand's next competitive game will be on Saturday when they entertain Wells City.

Elsewhere, Chris Vinnicombe wants to see his Elmore side gather momentum in their quest to achieve a top-10 finish.

The Eagles started the season well but go into Saturday's home match against rock-bottom Devizes Town just five places and seven points above them.

"Our season has been a bit stop-start and our form has been indifferent in the weeks we have played recently," Vinnicombe said. "We have been half-decent but lacking that bit of concentration which could have saved us a few goals.

"We set our targets at the start of the season and we are still on to finish in the top 10 or above. We have got a lot of games to catch up on and will be playing two games a week for a month which will make it tough, but if we can win the first few of that sequence that will make it easier to turn up for games."

Elmore's scheduled game at fellow mid-table side Almondsbury was postponed due to a frozen pitch on Saturday.

Such inactivity means Vinnicombe should have a full squad available, and he hopes a good display will bode well for the Les Phillips Cup tie at Merthyr Town the following week.

Vinnicombe said: "If we were to get some momentum going that would make things easier. It would be nice for us to get a game in before the Merthyr match in the cup.

"Every game is going to be tough for us now, especially against a team like Devizes that is trying to get off the bottom of the league."