Black: South will be key addition

South has been a long term target for the club since former manager John Reed tried to bring him to Ingfield while he was still a Stocksbridge Park Steels player and Grant singled out his versatility as one of his strengths in a statement announcing his arrival from their EVO-STIK League North rivals on Thursday in time to play at Hyde United this weekend.

Black, who has been looking to add to the squad since Nathan Curtis moved in the other direction to Albion, said: “He is a player I have admired for some time. He will add goals, physicality both up front and at the back as well as experience which is key at this level, especially as we have such a young squad. I believe he will be a key addition and I cannot wait to get working with him. He will go straight into our squad for the trip to Hyde on Saturday."

South, who levelled the scores in the Ossett derby on Bank Holiday Monday with a powerful header before Town went on to win the game, credits the club's current management team for his arrival and isn't bothered whether he finds himself up front or at the heart of defence as long as he is on the pitch contributing. He also told fans that he believes they can go one step further than last season when the club came so close to winning promotion via the play-offs.

He said: "I am comfortable in both positions and I am happy to play in either to be honest. The most important thing for me is to play my part for the team. Stopping the opposition is as important as scoring. I was attracted to the club this time as I know Grant Black and Micky Norbury well, they are both top coaches and I can see the club is going in the right direction, I want to be a part of that. The side was two minutes from promotion and obviously we want to go that one step further and I believe we can."

Wishing his former supporters at Ossett Albion well for the rest of the campaign with the club struggling at foot of the table, he added: “I want to thank the fans at Ossett Albion, their support was always appreciated, I wish them all the best in the future."

Image courtesy of Ossett Albion/Pitchero

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