FORMER Rams striker Shaun Welford has signed a two-year deal at Margate after joining from Dover for an undisclosed fee.

The big Geordie, 31, was a hero at Southwood and Crabble and Iain O'Connell expects him to be a hit with Gate fans after new Whites boss Martin Hayes agreed to let him move.

O'Connell said: "Our supporters will be really happy with this signing.

"I wanted to get him before but there was no way Andy Hessenthaler would have let him leave when he was manager.

"He's strong, he scores goals, he holds the ball up well and he works his a*** off.

"On top of that, he's a good lad and will fit in really well here.

"He's exactly what I was looking for."

Amazingly, Blues suffered their first postponement of the new season when Wednesday's game at Croydon was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

The boss said: "I was worried when I saw the rain coming down because Croydon have had a few problems with their pitch and couldn't play any pre-season games on it. Funny thing is I think they were fitting a new drainage system, so that's worked well!"

Blues try again tomorrow (Saturday) at Ryman Prem new boys Lowestoft, then crisis club Maidstone are at Hartsdown Park on Bank Holiday Monday (3pm).

Stones have lost their first two games and have big money problems.

Welford is set to make his debut while Gate have received international clearance for Sierra Leone striker Ismail after he missed the opening-day 2-2 draw against Canvey.

But captain Jay Saunders starts a two-game ban following his controversial red card during pre-season and is set to be replaced by Wayne Wilson.

O'Connell said: "I'm expecting Lowestoft to be one of the stronger sides in the league so we could have done with Jay's experience and leadership.

"We'll miss him but hopefully the lads will do a job.

"Jay's gutted about missing Maidstone – he wanted to play against his old club.

"They've got their problems but it will still be a tough game because we've got a lot of ex-Maidstone players and they'll want to put one over on us."