POPPIES manager Ken Vaughan has hailed the arrival of Wimborne Town stalwart Paul Roast as “a great coup” for the ambitious Wessex Premier outfit.

Linchpin defender Roast has dual signed for Poppies and is set to make his home debut in tomorrow’s FA Vase first round clash with Hartley Wintney (3pm).

The 33-year-old, who has spent 11 years with Wimborne, will retain his role as player assistant-manager at Cuthbury and turned out in midweek for their reserves.

However, work commitments have prevented Roast from being available for some of Wimborne’s longer jaunts in the Southern League, with Poppies an ideal second club for him.

Club captain at Cuthbury, Roast, who was rewarded by Wimborne with a testimonial against Cherries in pre-season, has made around 400 appearances for the Magpies.

“We are delighted to have him,” said Vaughan. “We tried to get him a few times previously but he always decided to stay at Wimborne. With his work commitments, I think he has been finding the travelling a bit of a strain.

“If you were to cut him in half, he would bleed the black and white of Wimborne. But he has decided on a change and it will probably be a good thing for him.”

Roast, who lined up in Poppies’ 5-1 defeat at Winchester City six days ago, will be hoping to help Vaughan’s men overcome Combined Counties Division One outfit Hartley Wintney, Bashley’s shock conquerors in the FA Cup this season.

Vaughan added: “I think Roasty was a bit shell-shocked after the Winchester game. We were down to the bare bones and the players were going down like flies. In the end, it was more like Paul Roast versus Winchester City!

“We’d had three tough games in a row before we went to Winchester and they caught up with us. Roasty played his heart out and I am surprised he has been able to get out of bed this week!”

Vaughan still has numerous injury concerns ahead of the Victoria Park tie and will assess the fitness of several players before finalising his squad.

Poppies: (from) Frampton, Daysh, Taylor, Roast, Crutcher, J Blake, Rowley, Wyatt, Ewen, Saadi, McCormick, Toepfer, Keeler, Phillipson-Masters, Stone, M Blake, Pinder, Warren, Hogan, Vaughan.