DISS Town chairman Dicki Upson said that new signing Alessandro Zarrelli will be judged solely on his football ability.

Zarrelli, who was exposed on the Sky Superfakes programme four years ago after claiming to have been contracted to professional clubs Glasgow Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday, has recently signed for the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division side.

Upson said yesterday: “We are aware of what happened in the past, which was several years ago. It (the programme) is still on YouTube and I have seen it. I have met and spoken with Alex and told him he will be judged on his footballing ability and nothing else at our club.”

Zarrelli, who last season played once for Norwich United’s reserve side and simultaneously tried to register as a player for Ipswich Wanderers, has played one-and-a-half reserve games since joining Diss.

“It will be down to the manager (Rob Taylor) if it turns out he is good enough to play for the first team and not me,” added Upson.