Leiston have signed former Lowestoft Town midfielder Joe Marsden, although the 23-year-old will not be eligible to travel to Eastbourne Borough for the Blues’ FA Trophy replay this evening.

Marsden, the brother of current Blues goalkeeper Jacob – who is on-loan from Ipswich Town – has penned a deal for the next year-and-a-half.

Marsden scored over 20 goals from a right wing-back position for Wroxham, two seasons ago, and has been signed to add strength, depth and versatility to a threadbare squad that continues to be without captain Tom Bullard (broken jaw).

“We will look forward to working with Joe, he is 23 and has Conference North experience,” said Leiston manager, Glenn Driver.

“He can play anywhere down the right and played at full-back in his early days.

“We are short of players with Bully (Bullard) being out and bringing Joe in adds an extra dimension to the squad.

“He is quick, works hard and loves to get forward.

“Ollie Brown is our out-and-out full-back and has done very well, but Joe will bring something different and I would like to thank the chairman (Andy Crisp) for making the transfer possible.”

The Blues will face another tough away day, at National League side Bromley on December 10, should they get the job finished in Sussex tonight.

On Saturday the coastal club were grateful to a last-minute Jack Ainsley penalty to preserve their place in the competition, although Driver believes his side should have gone through on the day.

“We should not be going to Eastbourne and anyone who watched the game on Saturday will know we were unlucky not to go through,” added Driver. Even their gaffer (Tommy Widdrington) said after the game that it would have been wrong if they had gone through with a penalty (Eastbourne had led 1-0 from the spot) and said he hopes they give us a better game on Tuesday.

“We won’t go there fearing them. They play on a 3G pitch which will suit our style of play, but we should have been out of sight and that is the disappointing thing, as we have another long, long trip.”

Driver will have all his regulars to choose from for the gruelling midweek journey, the Blues chief admitting that he did his homework into his summer signings’ other commitments before bringing them to the club.

“We are quite lucky in that respect and I did quite a lot of homework, looking into the players’ availability for midweek games, before I brought them to the club.

“We have not lost any players for midweek games yet, due to them having other commitments.”

Notcutts Park, the home of Woodbridge Town, will stage the semi-final of this season’s Suffolk FA Premier Cup, between the Blues and Needham Market, on Wednesday, March 15 (7.45pm kick-off). Needham Market’s Bloomfields ground will host the tie involving Newmarket Town and Lowestoft Town, the evening before.