FORMER Eastleigh full-back Damian Batt has come out of retirement to join League Two outfit Dagenham & Redbridge on a two-year deal.

The 29-year-old appeared to have called time on professional football when he ended a four-and-a-half year stint at Oxford United last September, saying he wanted to concentrate on running his own business.

He joined the Spitfires a few days later but, with opportunities limited, he left at the end of January having made just 12 starts for Richard Hill’s eventual Conference South champions. He has been out of the game ever since.

Batt, who had a brief spell at Redbridge in 2004 before going on to play for the likes of Barnet and Stevenage Borough, knows D&R manager Wayne Burnett of old having played for him at Fisher Athletic in 2008.

“Damian is a player I’ve known for a long time,” said Burnett.

“He’s a good athlete, has a good footballing brain and I think it’s a major coup for us getting him.”