LEE JEFFERIES has become the latest former Yate Town player to link up with former boss Richard Thompson at Almondsbury Town.

The veteran centre back joined from Toolstation Western League side Brislington as a timely replacement for club captain Danny Haines, who decided to link up again with Phil Bater at Mangotsfield United, and will also be part of the coaching setup at Oaklands Park.

Thompson already has assistant manager Lee Barlass and midfielder Paul Chenoweth on his coaching staff and has seen former Yate players Dean Griffiths, Aaron Blakemore, Mike Whittington, Lee Matthews and Dave Anyinsah jump at the chance to work with him again since he became Almondsbury manager in September.

And Thompson is happy to have so many familiar faces around him as he aims to take Almondsbury Town into the Southern League for the first time in their history.

He said: “Every time I have signed an ex-Yate Town player it has been because an Almondsbury player has left and with my contacts I’ve gone to the immediate players I’ve had in the last few years.

“I have a good team around me with Lee Jefferies, Paul Chenoweth and Lee Barlass, they are people I trust and people I know.

“Now we’ve got a settled squad of 16 or 17 and I don’t think there will be much more movement.”

“Two or three played for me at Yate and some say they did not do the business because they were relegated but Yate were two divisions higher.

“I dragged those players from this sort of level and now they’re proven at Southern League level.”

Thompson admitted he did not want to lose Haines but in Jefferies he had a ready made replacement.

“In the first two or three weeks I learnt everything about Almondsbury from Danny Haines,” said Thompson.

“Danny had a difficult decision because he played under Phil before and he had a chance of winning something with us.

“I had one eye on Lee Jefferies and the two go hand in hand because they’re both experienced.”

Almondsbury lie second in the Hellenic Premier Division but have not played since they suffered their first defeat of the campaign at Witney United on December 15.

Their GFA Challenge Trophy match against Cheltenham Saracens was postponed for a third time this week and with the continuing freezing conditions their hopes of getting back into action at Hook Norton this Saturday look bleak.

The new date for the Saracens game is next Wednesday but their priority is the league.

“As a manager this is the longest I can remember,” said Thompson of the unscheduled winter break.

“Our last game was four weeks ago against Witney so we don’t know where to turn and training has been difficult.

“We’ve only missed three league games so it might not be too bad to fit in the others.

“With the cup games we’ll play those by ear and see what the situation is but it’s not the be all and end all.”