RYMAN Premier promotion chasers Eastleigh have won the race for Slough Town's talented left-sided midfielder Alex Haddow.

Manager Paul Doswell, right, will be signing the 23-year-old on a two-year contract tonight and is ready to include him in the squad for tomorrow's big Ryman Premier showdown against relegation-threatened Salisbury City, who have also lodged notice of approach along with Conference South outfit Hayes.

Having initially spoken to Haddow a couple of weeks back, Doswell didn't hold out too much hope of getting him, but he confirmed: "I talked to Alex on Sunday night and he's agreed to come.

"With no disrespect to Salisbury, it was between us and Hayes because he's looking to go up in level. Staying at Slough was his third option because he's enjoyed it there.

"He'll have a clause in his contract which would allow him to move on if a league club came in for him. That's a good thing as far as I'm concerned. I like players who show ambition."

Haddow, who hails from Fleet, started out as a youngster with Arsenal and then moved to Reading where his progress was halted by a snapped knee ligament.

From there he went to Carlisle United, only to be dogged by cartilage trouble.

He joined Slough from Aldershot Town's reserves and made a name for himself as the FA Cup's player-of-the-round following a star performance in the Rebels' shock 2-1 win over League One side Walsall.

He came to Doswell's attention when he hammered in a hat-trick against Eastleigh in a 4-0 romp at the Sparshatts Stadium last month and was subsequently voted the Rebels' player-of-the-month for January.

"That was for dismantling us as much as anything," admitted Doswell. "Alex liked it at Slough but I've managed to convince him that hopefully he can get better with us and he feels Eastleigh are going places.

"He's a good person to have on the left if Christer Warren or Ryan Ashford is injured, but he can also play through the middle or wide right if needs be."

Groin victim Paul Sales is unlikely to be fit enough to feature against his old club tomorrow but he should hopefully be okay for Saturday's trip to Cheshunt.

Fellow frontman James Stokoe has returned to the Eastleigh fold after a month's loan at Bashley.