AFC Totton have brought Lymington Town skipper Nathan Hurst back to the Snows Stadium.
The Stags moved to bring in their former academy player as they look to bolster their squad ahead of a final push for promotion.
A battling central midfielder on the pitch and a performance analyst for Saints off of it, Hurst’s availability for Lymington’s matches in the past has been hampered by his work schedule.
Lymington boss Dave Lewis had previously told the Daily Echo: “Nathan works for Saints as a sports analyst. Because of his job, he’s not always available for us.
“He gets called away to video matches and so on.”
In Lymo’s debut Southern League season, Hurst captained the side on 17 occasions – with his penultimate appearance in the 7-1 defeat to new club Totton at the start of January, a game which also saw Hurst dismissed.
Just a few days later he picked up an injury in another local derby with Winchester, sidelining him beyond the length of his ban.
Speaking about the acquisition of a new midfielder, Totton boss Dan Sackman told AFC Totton TV: "We are really looking forward to working with Nathan. His tenacity, mobility and intelligence will be a valuable asset to us for the run in."
Totton have another tough fixture this weekend, with the third-placed Stags away at second-placed Frome Town.
Victory will not be enough for Totton to leapfrog their next opponents, but it would cut the gap of five-points down to a much more surmountable two point difference.
Elsewhere in the promotion fight, Totton’s Hampshire rivals Winchester and Sholing do battle. Only a point separates the two sides, but fifth-placed Sholing have three games in hand on fourth-placed Winchester.
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