NEW Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police manager Connor Marshall has now started to make new additions to his squad ahead of pre-season.

The first signing of the Marshall reign is midfielder Owen Raven and as part of the announcement, he said: “The club has great ambition and drive which is something I want as a player.”

Raven worked under Marshall and his assistant Darren Raven at Newton Abbot Spurs last year and so he obviously knows both of them very well.

He “is looking forward to more of the same” alongside them!

Jayden Preece is next up and writing on social media, Stoke Gabriel describe him as having “Bags of potential and an attitude to admire”, making him “A perfect player for the future of the club.”

Following Preece through the door were a pair of Dartmouth AFC players who will now make the step up from the Devon Football League to the SW Peninsula League.

Dan Ayling and Toby Lee are a duo who Marshall has had his eye on for a while and so he’s delighted to get their signings over the line.

“When I received the call from the gaffer about signing for Stoke, I was delighted by the ambition and the drive, it had me sold to sign for the club,” said Ayling.

He continued, “I’m excited to make the step up and play at a higher level. The ambition within the management and the want to win is incredible.”

Also offering his thoughts was Lee: as “soon as I received the message from Connor about signing for Stoke and seeing the plans for the future, it had me sold.

“We have a great group of loads and are capable of winning everything in front of us this season.”

Pre-season fixtures are just around the corner with Stoke then hosting Ilfracombe Town for their first league outing in early August.