Title-chasing Kettering Town swoop to sign former Norwich City striker Jamar Loza

As Loza arrives, recently-signed Cyrus Babaie-Gumbs has moved on to Redditch United without kicking a ball in anger for the Poppies.

Loza, who is 31, has scored 25 goals this term for the Blues, however Kettering were able to keep him quiet in both games they faced off this season - with Dan Jezeph also denying him from the penalty spot at the start of this month.

A strong and direct forward, Loza started his career at Norwich City, bagging one Premier league goal in the three games he played for the Canaries.

He then went on to have a number of loan spells before going on to have a solid non-league career with the likes of Maidstone, Woking and Leiston.

Loza also has four international caps for Jamaica to his name.

Signing another striker may leave both Jonny Edwards and Nile Ranger scratching their heads, with Loza’s arrival seen by some as a last throw of the dice to get the Poppies over the finishing line in the Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central promotion race.

Ranger in particular will have reason to be particularly aggrieved, having created two chances in his last two substitution appearances that have gained Kettering four crucial points.

In his post-match interview after recent victory at Alvechurch, boss Richard Lavery was asked if he still had the best squad in the league, to which he replied “all day – I won’t be bringing any more players in”.

Going on to sign a prolific striker nine days later either shows incredible poker skills from the Kettering manager, that the stars aligned for a quickfire move, or it suggests that he wasn’t entirely involved with the signing.

However the move has come about, there is no denying that Loza has been in good-form this season and his presence in the squad could bring about changes to Kettering’s system and tactics – standing at just 5ft 10in, he isn’t designed to win long balls and hold up play.

All eyes will be on the team sheet for the clash at Stamford at 2pm tomorrow to see if the new signing is parachuted straight into the starting lineup.

A club statement announcing the signing, read: “Manager Richard Lavery has added striker Jamar Loza from Leiston as we enter the crucial part of the season. Jamar has scored 19 league goals for the Suffolk club this season.

"Jamaican-born, Jamar’s career began at Norwich City before loan spells at Coventry City, Leyton Orient, Southend United, Yeovil Town, Stevenage, Woking, Dartford and Cheshunt. He has also played for Maidstone United, Barnet, Billericay Town and Chelmsford City.

“He has plenty of experience and has played in the Premier League and Championship with Norwich and he has also featured in League One, League Two, the National League, National League South and the Southern League Premier Central.

"Jamar is in fourth place in the Pitching-In goalscoring charts so far and goes straight into the squad to face Stamford AFC on Saturday.

“We would like to welcome Jamar to Latimer Park and hope he has a successful and enjoyable time with the club.”