BROMSGROVE Rovers have swooped to sign former Walsall starlet Graham Deakin from Worcestershire rivals Redditch United.

Midfielder Deakin and striker Chris Hannah have both joined the Victoria Ground club from United this week and are set to make their debuts in Rovers' Midlands Division One clash against Nuneaton Borough on Saturday.

The capture of Deakin in particularly is a coup for Rovers. The 21-year-old midfielder has been a regular for United but has been snapped up by Rovers after becoming surplus to requirements at the Valley Stadium.

Delighted Rovers manager Rod Brown believes that he might not be able to hold onto Deakin, who began as a trainee at League One side Walsall, for very long.

"Graham is a great coup for us," commented Brown.

"He played a lot for Redditch but there's been a few changes at United and he's become available.

"We don't know how long we'll have him for, because he's a guy who should be playing at a higher level but we're going to make the most of him being at the club.

"Chris is the type of player we haven't got, he's small and very quick.

"He'll add something different to the squad and will start against Nuneaton."

Deakin was handed a six-match suspension in March after being involved in a brawl at Southport.

However, he is a gifted ball player, who has fell foul of a squad restructuring by manager Gary Whild.

Rovers' only injury worries are captain Dennis Pearce and winger Kevin Banner for Saturday's home match against Nuneaton.

"Nuneaton will be very tough, they still have a lot of players from a higher level," commented Brown.

"If we can get something out of this game I think it will give us a boost.

"We've played a lot of teams in the top half of the table and I am hoping for a run of games against some of the struggling sides."

The Rovers manager has admitted he's happy to be back at the club for his second spell as manager.

Brown returned in September and is determined to focus the club on winning promotion.

"My time at Rugby has given me a fresh perspective. I was working with a small budget and a very young squad.

"I'm loving being back at Rovers. I know that this club needs a strong management presence because there's so much other stuff going-on off the pitch.

"The squad is very young and I'm trying to improve it so we can do well."