CHRIS Dillon’s presence in the Dorchester Town side is like having “a new signing” following his run of bad luck with injuries.

That was the opinion of Magpies’ midfielder Jason Brookes after Dillon came on as a second-half substitute in Tuesday’s Red Insure Cup clash with Poole.

Defender Dillon replaced player-manager Mark Jermyn with 17 minutes of the tie left, though he was powerless to prevent Dorchester suffering a 3-1 reverse.

Brookes, who played the first 45 minutes at the Avenue, said: “It was great to see Dills back in action. He is such a good player and did so well for us last season.

“He has had these niggly injuries and missed quite a few games so it’s like we’ve made a new signing with him involved again.

“We’ve had a couple of players out with injuries but with them coming back we should be looking good.”

Assessing the Magpies’ performance against Poole, Brookes added: “It was a bit disappointing really.

“I thought we started well in the first 10-15 minutes but didn’t really penetrate their defence.

“We’ve had a good start to the season so we’ll try and put this behind us and move on.

“I felt I did okay personally but we changed our shape at half-time and I didn’t fit into that. I’ve been working hard and had good feedback off the management team.”

*Alex Godfrey and Adam Linaker scored for Portland United as Gary Bailey's men beat Bridport 2-1 in a midweek friendly at Grove Corner. Shane Evans netted from the spot for the visitors.