Baird wish granted as Staforde signs

By Wendy Gee -

IAN Baird has been granted his wish of adding a fourth striker to his Eastleigh squad.

The Spitfires' boss has had the go-ahead to sign Staforde Palmer, whose loan spell from Hayes & Yeading last season was cut short by injury.

The 22-year-old had a bright start to his Eastleigh career, scoring in his first two games for the Blue Square Bet South club.

But he was carried off with knee ligament damage in mid-February's fateful third appearance at Weston-Super-Mare, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

Despite missing a penalty, Palmer impressed on his Eastleigh comeback at AFC Totton on Saturday after rejoining the squad for training this summer.

But speaking after the 1-0 friendly defeat, Baird said he had been informed by the club that the budget wouldn't stretch to signing him.

All that changed a matter of hours later, however, with news that Palmer had been offered a non-contract deal.

"I had a meeting with (director of football) Dave Malone and he realised the extent of how short we are on players," said Baird. "We've managed to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat and free up some money.

"Staforde's signed non-contract  and, in this day and age, he's cheap. We've got him at the right price and the right age and on our terms. Staforde's only 22 and he has a good future in the game.

"It gives me four forwards now with Richard Gillespie, Jamie Brown and Jamie Slabber."

Palmer went on as a substitute and scored as Eastleigh began their Joma South West Challenge  Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over Truro last night.

Having sloppily conceded to an early free kick, the Spitfires improved after the break, scoring through Slabber and Palmer.

With Jason Matthews out for three weeks, Baird urgently needs goalkeeping cover and is hoping AFC Totton's Gareth Barfoot will be available to trial in tonight's match against Leyton Orient at Elmore FC (8pm).

Barfoot has been a regular for Totton for the last three seasons, but his place is under threat from new signing Jason Harvell.