REDDITCH United manager Darren Byfield is finally a happy man despite doing his best Scrooge impression with the FA and his squad last week.

Byfield faced a race against time to get new recruit Gurjit Singh's Hednesford Town contract cancelled in time for the former Kidderminster frontrunner to play against Cirencester on Saturday.

Singh weighed in with a brace as Reds cruised to a 4-1 win at the Valley but Ciren's late consolation briefly brought out the ex-Aston Villa striker's mean streak once more.

"The boys were superb, even if they thought I was the grumpiest man in the world because I was cheesed off when we conceded at the end," said Byfield.

"We deserved a clean sheet but that was the only drawback in a really good team performance and that was the way I wanted to see my team play.

"Gaz was immense and showed everyone why I worked so hard to get him in. His quality shone through and it inspired everyone around him to lift their game – that's what you want.

"It was a long, drawn-out process and I even had to ring the FA myself at one point to make sure he could play. To be fair, they were brilliant in getting it sorted out for us."

Singh was joined at the Valley by Dior Angus, a forward from Stratford Town, last week but two Reds have exited with David McDermott joining Hednesford and experienced defender Clayton McDonald heading for National North strugglers Altrincham.

Byfield explained McDonald had been unlikely to feature in his first-team plans and that his recruitment drive would remain focused on other areas.

"I have Duane Courtney and Jordan Cullinane-Liburd as my first choice, Jordan Brown can play there, Franklin Hazell will be back from injury soon and Nat Kelly can shift across," he added.

"I hope to bring in another player next week. We have the approach in and if we can get him and another big one that we're working on then we'll be fine. They will be the only two unless anyone comes in for our players.

"I hear professional clubs are watching our games. We are in and around the play-offs and the lads are going to attract attention so we just have to see how things pan out."

Asked whether the new faces would revise his targets, Byfield replied with a coy smile. "It stays the same," he said. "Win the next game."