BOSS Ken Vaughan admitted his relief after bolstering Bournemouth Poppies' attack with a double swoop for Hamworthy United's Sam Pekun and Diane Bassiriki.

The strikers had found first-team opportunities hard to come by at the County Ground since new manager Graham Kemp marked his arrival with several new signings.

Their inactivity alerted the attention of Vaughan, who has top scorer Martin Warren and fellow frontman Connor Phillips struggling with injury, as Poppies looked to fill their void in the final third.

The Victoria Park manager, who thanked counterpart Kemp for allowing the transfers to go through immediately, told the Daily Echo: “I was pleased to get hold of them because both players have something different about them.

“From what I have seen they have good pace, a bit of trickery and that little bit of quality when it matters. Hopefully, they will blend in nicely and give us that different dimension to our play.

“They have only had bit part roles (at Hamworthy) and I have had my eye on them for some time now. It was an ideal opportunity to get things settled down with so many tough games coming up.”

Meanwhile, Vaughan revealed that Warren, currently sidelined with a groin strain, had been playing through the pain barrier for some time.

“We have known for a while that Martin needed to rest up for a few weeks and he could be out for a while,” he added.

“He kept coming back too early because we needed his presence up there so it was excellent timing to have a couple of strikers available.

“Hopefully, he will have the chance to get himself right now.”