Boss Adam Murray believes the Stags have added 'that little bit of X-Factor' following yesterday's signing of winger Ashley Hemmings.
Our manager made Hemmings his third signing of the summer following the captures of defender George Taft and striker Danny Rose from Burton Albion and Bury, respectively.
And Murray is looking forward to coaching the versatile winger, who left Dagenham & Redbridge following their relegation to the National League last season, after watching the 25-year-old’s progress for some time.
“Ashley’s someone that we’ve had our eye on for a while now. I’ve always rated him, he’s got a lot of good attributes. He’s obviously been in a team [at Dagenham] that has found it tough in the last couple of seasons, but the individual ingredients that he brings are very strong and very promising,” Murray said.
“I’m very excited about this one – he’s a winger that can play either side, [he’s] both footed and technically very good. [He’s got] great pace - very dynamic; he’s got goals in him. There’s a lot of potential there at a great age that we believe we can unlock.
“He’s got that little bit of guile, that little bit of ‘X-Factor’ that can open teams up and I believe in a good side, he’s going to be one hell of a player. We expect to win here and he’s going to have to get into that mindset which we believe he’s got inside him.
“He’s got hunger to kick on – he’s been a little bit stale the last few seasons and we believe we can get the best out of him. We believe in the final third he’ll offer a little bit of intelligence as well as the pace and delivery to get goals and create.”
Looking at the squad as a whole, the 34-year-old gaffer has revealed that he is closing in on more arrivals as he prepares for the 2016-17 campaign.
“The base is there, I think we’ve got a very good squad in place at the minute. We’re three [new players] from where we need to be, possibly four.
“Those deals are virtually done if I’m being honest, we’re just fine-tuning little bits and making sure we get the right value, player and character to come into the squad.
“We’re still looking in the forward areas, we probably want one more 'up there' – defensively, we probably want to bring one more in and then in wide areas, we’ll strengthen there as well.”
Murray has also provided an update on the ongoing situation with defender Ryan Tafazolli and winger Reggie Lambe, who are both considering deals from the club.
“The ball’s in their court – they’ve both got offers elsewhere. If I’m being totally honest, I think they’ll both move on, but that’s football. We’re happy with what we’ve done, we feel we’ve improved the squad so far.”
Supporters can watch Adam Murray’s news conference on Stags Player HD.
