This has been a very unusual season for us recruitment wise and yet again we find ourselves looking for players, says Ashford United boss Tommy Warrilow

ASHFORD UNITED manager Tommy Warrilow begins the search for new players to strengthen his squad after four recent departures from Homelands Stadium.

The Nuts & Bolts are sitting in fifth-place in the Isthmian League South East Division table, having picked up 35 points (10 wins, five draws) from their 21 league games.

Steve Lovell’s Ramsgate lead the way with 42 points from 20 games and Ashford United are within the play-off zone behind Chatham Town (39 points from 19 games), Cray Valley (36 points from 19) and Brighton-based side Whitehawk (35 points from 19).

“Just thought I’d make a comment regarding the latest departures from the club because, obviously I am not naïve, when you have four players leave a club in the space of a week people think there must be pandemonium and unrest but that’s far from the case,” Warrilow said in a club website statement, ahead of Saturday’s trip to play Harry Hudson’s Sevenoaks Town at Greatness Park.

“Two of them are quite understandable and to be honest I probably would’ve done the same thing if I was them.

“One of them is Jarred Trespaderne, who got offered a very, very good job in a different area and part of the deal was he’d play football for the chairman’s football club, which is fine.  I have no issues with that and as I said to Jaz, I fully understand his decision and he’s moved on with our blessing.

“The other one is Toby Ajala and Faversham had come in for him. Everybody knows what’s going on down at Faversham at the moment so I fully expected Toby to accept their offer and move on.  Obviously, I don’t like it, but I have to accept it because it was a fantastic offer for Toby.

“To be honest, Mamadou Diallo was a complete surprise to me. He’s got a bit of work up in London and just said he wouldn’t be around for a while.  I said ok, no worries, but I’ve kept his registration and we’ll see what happens when his work calms down.

“I am hoping that truly is the reason because Mamadou has been an ever-present at this club for a while now and up until the Faversham game he was starting.

“We opted for Tariq Ossai on the Boxing Day game and then Mamadou went to Portugal for a week or 10 days and missed the Sheppey game, came back on the Saturday just gone and then let me know on the Sunday of his work commitments.  Again, I’m hoping that once his work stops he can be back with us.

“Mikey Dalton called me yesterday and was honest enough to tell me that since he’s come back from Australia, he hasn’t been enjoying his football and is finding it hard to settle, so either he wants to take a bit of time out or he wants to go and play with some of his mates to try and get some enjoyment back out of it.  I’ve also held his registration and I’d welcome him back once he’s decided what he wants to do.”

Warrilow has cancelled tonight’s proposed friendly match at Tonbridge Angels and Faversham Town will now travel to Longmead Stadium to play Jay Saunders’ National League South side instead.

“These are just the honest reasons as to why they’ve left, there’s no uproar or unrest in our camp,” insisted Warrilow.

“If anything, situations like this will bring the changing room closer together.  We’ve still got a very good squad but obviously we’re looking to strengthen now in the midfield area.

“Yes, it’s very unusual, but listen this has been a very unusual season for us recruitment wise and yet again we find ourselves looking for players.

“The number of players we’ve brought in this year has been far, far more than I’ve ever done before, but if you go back to all of our departures this season there has always been an explanation or reason as to why.

“I know losing four in one go is sort of unheard of but I’ve fully explains them now so there’s certainly no papering over the cracks.

“Then finally, with things like this, you find out who’s really up for a fight.  With me, it’s made me more determined than ever to make a success of this season and we’ve got to remind ourselves that we’re still in the mix.”

Visit Ashford United’s website: www.ashfordunitedfc.com