ALRESFORD Town have thrown down the gauntlet to the Sydenhams Premier Division top four by welcoming in two exciting summer signings.

The Magpies have swooped for Whitchurch United striker Danny Phillips and believe they have pulled off a real coup by signing central defender Ross Carmichael from newly-crowned league champions Portland United.

Carmichael made 31 league appearances for the Blues during their march to the title and is rated by Alresford boss Richard Luffman as “possibly the best centre-half in the league.”

“It’s a massive signing for us,” said Luffman, who is looking to build on the Magpies’ fifth-placed finish last term.

“Ross’s other half is from Southampton and he’s moving here early in 2018. It’s a situation we’d been aware of.

“Ross has been one of the mainstays of that successful Portland side, winning the Dorset Premier, Wessex One and the Wessex Premier.

“We shipped a lot of goals last season (63) compared to the top four, but we’ve managed to re-sign Lukas McCartney, who had Gosport Borough sniffing round. With him and Ross playing together, we’ve got a good chance of shoring up our back line.

“For me, Lukas is far and away the best footballer in the Wessex League and has a lot of teams higher up looking at him.

“As for Ross, we’re over the moon to have signed him. He was the best defender we faced last season. He’s 6ft 5in and a man-mountain of a bloke.”

By his usual high standards striker Phillips had a quiet time of it in front of goal last term, scoring seven times in 24 appearances as Whitchurch were consigned to relegation to Division One.

The previous two campaigns were a different story, however, with the Southampton-based former Romsey marksman netting 50 times during 2014/15 and 2015/16 combined.

“Last season was a difficult campaign for Danny and his team, but he still caused us all sort of problems with his movement,” said Luffman. “He’s as good a striker as any in this league playing off the shoulder.

“We've got all of last season's squad signed on again other than a couple and these two signings show how far we’ve come as a club over the last 12 months.”