GARRY Hill has made Crawley Town striker and former Charlton Athletic star Charlie MacDonald his first Weymouth signing.
Last season’s Dr Martens Player of the Year has agreed a short-term deal with the Terras and will make his debut at Cambridge City on Saturday.
Hill also hopes to make another capture before today’s transfer deadline.
“I’m really pleased Charlie has agreed to join us until the end of the season,” said Hill, “and hopefully we can extend that period if things go well.
“He is a proven goalscorer as his excellent record at Crawley proves, where he got 25 goals last season, and he’s still young at 24.
“Charlie was a big reason why Crawley pipped Weymouth to the Dr Martens title last season.
He scored a lot of goals for them in the run-in and he has continued in that vein this season, scoring a good few times at Conference National level.
With this season coming to a conclusion, the lad feels he needs a fresh start at a new club and I’m delighted he has chosen Weymouth.
“Having had time to assess the squad, the one area I felt needed strengthening in the short-term was up front.
Losing Lee Phillips before my arrival and with Chukki Eribenne struggling with a hamstring injury, we are very light in that area.
So signing Charlie is a big boost and hopefully he’ll strike up a fruitful partnership with Kirk Jackson at Cambridge City on Saturday.”
MacDonald, who once netted a winner for Charlton against Newcastle in the Premiership and found the target 38 times in 79 appearances for Crawley, has also had stints at Cheltenham and Stevenage Borough.
Hill added: “The plan is to sit down with Charlie at the end of the season and reassess the situation about a long-term deal although I don’t want to rush into anything.”
And Hill is hoping the capture of MacDonald will help Weymouth make it three wins in a row at Cambridge.
He said: “Confidence in the camp is a good and Saturday will be a great time for Charlie to get off the mark.
Myself and my team know there’s a lot of work to do and we will be trying our best to make at least one other signing before the deadline.”
