BRIDPORT have secured the services of left-winger Toby Diaz on a permanent basis from Portland United for the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign.

Diaz joins brother Adam at the Bees, having made one appearance for Portland’s first team this season and 12 for the Blues’ reserves, scoring twice.

His arrival at St Mary’s Field adds cover on the left for Bridport with James Cox missing a number of weeks through work commitments.

Diaz will also provide competition for the Bees on the left, keeping honest the likes of George Calverley and Jake Childs.

Speaking to the Bridport News, Bees’ boss Chris Herbst said: “He’s a left-sided player so that’s a really good signing.

READ MORE: Toby Diaz signs for Portland United

"He’s signing for the season and then hopefully next year as well.

“He trained (Tuesday) night, really well. We’ve obviously lost Coxy, so it’s good competition for Jake Childs and George Calverley.

“The opportunity arose and it was a no-brainer. We need competition for all places. I knew he’s a good player, I’ve seen him play and it would be silly not to (sign him).

“It was an easy one and he was quite keen to come, so it’s all good.”

Portland United boss Kyle Critchell added: “Toby has been playing in our reserves and he’s not quite broken into the first team.

“Toby felt like he needed to keep trying to progress and play at a higher level so it’s the next step for him.

“For Toby, he’d want to come back in pre-season. Both parties have agreed we’ll monitor the situation and we wish him all the best.

“He’s an exceptional young man and I think it’s right he gets that first-team football at Bridport.”

Critchell added: “The difficulty is from last season we had to adjust our plan.

“He was always part of our plans but as the season went on, we had other alternatives that took the position he plays in. Toby’s done nothing wrong, he applies himself really well. He just hasn’t made the breakthrough with us just yet.

“We’ll keep those communication lines open and hope he does the business and puts in some good performances.

“Toby can be anything that Toby wants to be. It’s just for him now it’s playing games. We’ve got some of the younger lads now in that spot, Jamie Cleaver, Archie (Woolford) and those lads need to play.

“What we need to do is make sure that there’s a good mix of travelling with the first team and playing, that’s the hard part of managing young lads.”

Diaz could make his Bridport debut in Saturday’s league clash at Crediton United (3pm).