Kettering-born Connor joins the Poppies

Connor Johnson (No.20 in the red colours), pictured during his time at Walsall, has signed for Kettering Town

Kettering Town have completed a new signing ahead of their Vanarama National League North home clash with AFC Telford United tomorrow (Saturday).

The Poppies confirmed they have snapped up Kettering-born centre-half Connor Johnson.

The 22-year-old will go straight into the squad to face one of his former clubs tomorrow. Johnson featured for Sunderland's U23 side and Wolverhampton Wanderers while he had loan spells with the likes of Boreham Wood, Telford, Walsall and Kilmarnock.

Boss Paul Cox, meanwhile, believes his Poppies squad are beginning to understand their “DNA”.

The Kettering boss has spoken honestly about the job he feels he is facing in building the club and sending it in the right direction as they look to establish themselves in the National League North.

Kettering return to Latimer Park this weekend after having their four-match unbeaten run ended in a 2-0 defeat at title favourites York City on Tuesday night.

The Poppies paid the price for a slow start as York went 2-0 up inside the first seven minutes and the loss came after Kettering had claimed a 2-1 success over Blyth Spartans as fans returned to their home ground last weekend.

And while he was disappointed by the result at York, Cox believes the overall message is getting through to his players.

“We’ve spoken about our DNA a number of times and I think we are slowly getting an understanding of what that is and how we can impose it on teams we play,” the Poppies boss said.

“There has to be 100 per cent belief and a confidence in it and when we do it, I think we look like a decent side.

“If you look at the first half against Blyth on Saturday and the Kidderminster game when we were right on it, we showed we are a hard side to play against.

“But there needs to be some consistency. I have to be patient and we need to understand that over the rest of this season and next season we will hopefully put the pieces in the jigsaw which will give us that consistency.

“It’s annoying when we go away from home and give a good team a headstart but I thought there were a lot of positives that came out of the performance.

“Take away the first 10 minutes and if we are a bit more clinical in the final third with the chances we have created then it’s a different game.

“We need some consistency in our performances and that is what will take us forward.”

Tickets for the game at Latimer Park tomorrow must be purchased in advance online. Anyone who would like to order their tickets can do so by visiting tickets.insightfour.com/tickets/index/2763No cash sales will be available at the ground and tickets will be on sale up until 1pm tomorrow.