Boss Setchell believes new boy Hilliard can be a ‘great asset’ for the Steelmen

Setchell moved to sign the frontman from Northern Premier League Midlands rivals Spalding United having worked with him at both King’s Lynn Town and Wisbech Town.

Hilliard follows in the footsteps of midfielder Cain Noble, who joined Corby from Nuneaton Borough last week and made his debut in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bedworth United.

And Setchell said: “Toby is a lad I know and he’s exactly what we need.

“He’s a centre-forward, he’s aggressive, he absolutely works his socks off every time he crosses the white line and he gives everything for the team.

“He’s had a decent career at the likes of King’s Lynn, Dereham and Wisbech and he’s always been around that 15 to 20 goals a season mark.

“He can win his fair share of first and second balls, he’s got a bit of pace and I think he will be a great asset for us moving forward.

“It’s not worked out for him at Spalding but I feel he can play at this level and he is still in his prime. I am looking forward to working with him again, he’s a great lad.”

The Steelmen head to Loughborough Dynamo this weekend with a nine-point gap now separating them from the play-off places.

Jordan O’Brien scored the first goal since Setchell took over as his last-gasp equaliser earned Corby a share of the spoils at Steel Park last Saturday.

And the Corby boss added: “We just have to keep building. We are taking baby steps at the moment.

“We had the 0-0 draw at Coleshill but failed to build on that at Harborough and then last weekend I felt we deserved to win but, in the end, we were a bit fortunate to get a draw.

“The work ethic in the boys was great, some of the patterns were okay and we looked like we would go on and win the game but we got sucker-punched by gambling a bit too much.

“I will take responsibility for that because I was probably pushing us on a bit too much because I felt a draw wasn’t good enough for us.

“It almost cost us but we got the equaliser and now we have to try to build on it in another tough game at Loughborough.

“Hopefully we can be better than last week and hopefully next week we will be better than we were this coming week. It’s a progression thing for us.”