Holleran swoops to bring in Adams

Fans’ favourite Adams was a key figure in Brakes’ rise up the leagues, scoring 21 goals in the 2005/06 campaign before departing for AFC Telford, where he has made more than 200 appearances.

Adams has appeared 16 times for the Conference Premier side this campaign, but found himself left out of Andy Sinton’s squad to face Kettering Town earlier this month and Paul Holleran has moved quickly to snap up the services of the 27-year-old.

“He’s a player we rate highly and he’s been a bit unfortunate to find himself out of the team at Telford,” said Holleran, who will hand Adams his second debut at home to Oxford City tomorrow. “I’ve seen Telford twice this season and he’s been their best player on both occasions.

“I’m not sure Jon was that keen on going out on loan. It’s only the fact that is was me and it was Leamington, a club he has a history with.

“But he might just add the spark that we need at the moment.”

Adams joins a Brakes side which stretched their winless league sequence to five games last Saturday with a goalless draw at Hitchin.

The clean sheet did, however, push Leamington back into the play-off positions and justified Holleran’s decision to bring in keeper Nathan Vaughan and re-sign centre-back Liam Daly from Barwell.

Daly left in acrimonious circumstances in October following Brakes’ FA Trophy exit at Romulus, but Holleran said that in the wake of Jamie Hood’s long-term injury, his side was desperate for a commanding presence at the back.

“I’ve known Liam a long time and I’ve never doubted his ability as a player or his commitment,” said Holleran.

“I think a little bit of time away from the club may have helped.

“We haven’t been right at the back recently and the opportunity came about to sign him. We met up, had a chat and decided to give it another go.

“Now, with Nathan and Liam we’ve got a strong spine.”

Meanwhile, Holleran is hoping Leamington will reap the rewards of striker Jacob Blyth’s link-up with Birmingham City in midweek.

Blyth played in a trial match for Blues’ reserve side, scoring the winner in a 2-1 success over Southampton.

And Holleran says the teenager will have benefited from seeing how young professionals conduct themselves.

“Jacob has come a long way in a short time and it’s not surprising his performances have levelled off.

“There’s been a lot of hype surrounding him and we thought it would be a good idea to go into that professional environment and see how the young pros go about things.

“All young players have got to aspire to league football and hopefully it might get him going a little.”

n Brakes will play Banbury United in a rescheduled league fixture at the New Windmill on Tuesday February 21 (7.45pm).

The orginal game was postponed due to Banbury’s participation in the FA Trophy.