Having agreed terms to finalise a permanent move for striker Ryan Crisp from Suffolk rivals Leiston earlier today, Needham Market manager Mark Morsley is hoping the young striker can score the goals to keep his side’s play-off intentions on the horizon.

Crisp only signed for Ryman Premier outfit Leiston in the summer but has failed to nail down a starting berth in Steve Ball’s team and as a result of which, moved across Suffolk to team up with Morsley, a known admirer of the 19-year-old.

“Ryan’s a player who has been on my radar for a while,” admitted Morsley.

“I tried to get him into the building from Kirkley & Pakefield in the summer but he chose Leiston (who are in the league above Needham).

“I’m delighted to finally get him as he ticks the boxes - he’s young, and has bags of potential.”

Crisp’s stint at Leiston was unsettled to say the least, and following the recent arrival of Emmanuel Osei, the left-footed forward found himself slipping further down the pecking order at Victory Road and was allowed to move on.

But, Morsley sees Leiston’s loss as Needham’s gain and the Marketmen’s boss thinks he is inheriting a talented forward who will be ‘at home’ at Bloomfields.

Indeed, Crisp enjoyed a month on loan at Needham earlier in the season, where he scored five goals.

“Ryan’s a quiet lad but you can tell he enjoyed it earlier here,” added Morsley.

“He’s a young lad and with so many others around his age here, he can relate to people in the dressing room and I think that helped him here before.

“There’s parts of his game that are at a pro-level - he is sharp and has a rocket of a left-foot.

“He might not do a job for you defensively but he can certainly score you goals and like my captain Kem Izzet said to me ‘If we’ve all got to work 20% harder for Ryan to score the goals then so be it’.

“We haven’t scored enough goals and with Ryan and David Cowley on board, I’m now looking for us to do that.

“We’ve only lost four games but have drawn 10 - that’s far too many - we’ve hopefully had our mid-season break now (in reference to the weather) and we need to push on and win more games.

“We need to be bullish, offensive and tear into teams.

“And that starts this weekend at Brentwood, we’ve got to go there on the front foot and kick-on.”