LEE Bradbury has made his first signing as Eastleigh boss, snapping up Ronan Silva on loan from Crawley Town.

Bradbury joined Spitfires from his assistant manager role at Crawley earlier this week.

And he has already returned to his former club to bolster Eastleigh's squad, bringing in midfielder Silva on a deal until the end of the season.

The 21-year-old only recently joined Crawley from non-league Biggleswade Town following a trial period.

“I was really impressed with Ronan during his trial period at Crawley, and he deserves game time now he has signed his professional deal, so this is a perfect match to have him at the club," said Bradbury.

“He’s an exciting, confident young midfielder who is exactly the type of player we need to come in and add something extra for the rest of the season.”

Silva himself said: “I only heard about the interest after training yesterday (Friday), but as soon as I heard that the gaffer wanted to bring me in I jumped at the opportunity – I’m buzzing to get started to be fair and to play games in the National League.

“The gaffer has been top with me during the last month I’ve known him, so I felt like this was a no brainer. I’ve been really impressed with the facilities here and the lads are really good so hopefully we can finish the season strong.”

Silva could make his debut when Eastleigh host Wealdstone at Silverlake Stadium today (3pm).