Jones' delight as Poku joins Hemel Hempstead Town

The Tudors confirmed another new signing this week with the arrival of central midfielder Godfrey Poku, who previously played under Jones at Oxford City.

He became the third new addition of the summer after Jordy Mongoy and Ryan Hope signed from lower levels last week while the likes of Craig King, David Saunders, Jack Westbrook and Kyle Ajayi have been retained so far.

And Jones was delighted with his latest addition.

“It’s a really good signing for us,” the Hemel manager said.

“Godfrey has played at Woking and Wealdstone and he was at Havant & Waterlooville last season but got an injury.

“I had him at Oxford City with me. He is a very robust central midfield player and has good experience. He will add a lot to us.

“We were pleased to get Craig King sorted.

“You want to have a good goalkeeper at this level and we know he is very capable but I feel there is more to come from him.

“David Saunders did well when he deputised for Craig on a couple of occasions last year. He’s still only 21 but he’s impressed me with his attitude and his ability.

“He deserves the chance to stay with us but he does need to get out and play some regular football so we might be looking to do a bit of a loan deal with him.

“We have kept Jack Westbrook and Kyle Ajayi but we will need more to strengthen in that defensive area.

“And we are giving an opportunity to boys who have come from a slightly lower level in Jordy Mongoy and Ryan Hope.

“We feel they are players who are on the way up but they are hungry and keen to show what they can do.”

There have been departures from Vauxhall Road this summer, however, with Sam Mantom, Joash Nembhard and Samir Carruthers all moving on.

“I wanted to keep both Sam and Joash here but circumstances meant we couldn’t,” Jones added.

“Sam is relocating back up to the Birmingham area and it was going to be a two-hour plus drive for him just to get down here for training.

"A lot of the clubs in our division are now based on the south coast so he could have been looking at two hours to get here and then two and a half hours on a coach just to get to a game.

"We didn’t feel that would help us to help him to produce his best football. It’s a shame for us.

“With Joash, we made him an offer and we wanted to keep him.

"Unfortunately, Havant have come in and offered him more and we weren’t able to keep him.

"With Samir Carruthers signing for Dartford, I don’t think that will be a great surprise to people given he went there on loan towards the end of last season.

“We are still working on a couple of players from last season and hopefully there will be news of them soon.

"Some have moved on and that’s what happens. It’s my job to make sure we have a competitive group ready for August 6.”