Romans sign two on loan deals
Touray and Wood arrive from league sides until January
Jerry Gill has added two new players to his side ahead of the 2021/22 season.
Left-sided defender Callum Wood has signed on loan from Bristol City for the season, with attacker Mo Touray arriving from Salford City on a similar deal set to expire in January.
Wood made his debut in last Thursday’s 1-0 victory at Cirencester and also played 90 minutes in Tuesday’s win at Swansea, which saw Touray net before being withdrawn with just over 20 minutes remaining.
The Gambian-born forward began his career at Newport where he made one senior appearance before joining League Two rivals Salford last summer.
When at Newport he spent productive loan spells at Merthyr and Barry Town, scoring 14 goals for the latter in the 2018/19 season, and Salford also gave him game time at Marine last season where he chipped in with six in 13 outings, departing shortly before their historic FA Cup tie with Tottenham Hotspur in January.
“Mo is a very good player,” said Gill. “People may raise their eyebrows to see a loan signing from Salford City, a bit like when we took Noah Chilvers from Colchester.
“We can make it work. I’d like to thank Chris Casper for sorting the loan with us.
“Mo will train with us every Thursday, stay down for the weekend then go back and train with Salford for a few days. It’s important he continues his development there.
“He’s a lovely character. He adds something different on the pitch – he’s a good size, good power, gets into good pockets and is really positive with his decision making, which was good tonight.
“We keep looking at that front three, thinking of the personnel, and we’ve got options all around there now.”
The inclusion of Wood has aided City defensively, who have been short of a left-sided player with trialist Jordan Williams picking up an ankle injury in the win at Paulton, forcing him to miss four friendlies.
Wood made Cinderford Town’s first team at the age of 16 having previously been on the books of Hereford, who City visit on Saturday.
The 18-year-old arrived on trial for Bristol City in January 2020 but suffered a dislocated shoulder soon afterwards.
Last season he was part of the Robins’ successful under 23 side that won Professional Development League South, playing alongside a catalogue of former Bath City men like Harvey Wiles-richards, Opi Edwards and James Morton.
Speaking before the win over Swansea, Gill said: “I liked everything I saw in Callum at Cirencester.
“He wants to defend, wants to head the ball. He’s really comfortable stepping out of defence and gives us much-needed balance on the left.”
Gill is yet to determine the futures of Jayden Neilson and Mo Dabre.
Neilson, who figured for Bristol Manor Farm last term, has been in the squad for every friendly, scoring against Larkhall Athletic and proving his versatility by featuring as a full-back, central midfielder and part of a front three.
Dabre was on Calcio Lecco’s books as a youngster and featured for Worthing in a friendly last May before making his Bath City bow with an impressive cameo against Cardiff.
“Who’d want to play against Mo in the 70-80th minute?” Gill questioned. “He’s always buzzing around.
“We’ll have some conversations with him and Jayden on Thursday. Mo’s is a bit more complicated because he hasn’t signed a pro deal at a club. I know his agent, we’ll carry on conversations.
“He would be a great addition, he’s always made an impact. I enjoy working with him.”
Ben Gerring and Tom Richards missed Tuesday’s success. Richards pulled a hamstring at Cirencester last Thursday and Gerring picked up a groin strain at Paulton, having also been allowed time off to get married two weeks ago.
“Ben Gerring is pencilled in to get an hour on Saturday,” said Gill. “We’ll see how he is at training on Thursday, hopefully Tom will be able to return too.
“I’ve got lots of options at the moment. It’s a nice problem to have. Long may that continue – I’ve waited a long time for all the bodies to come back.
“I said to the players before tonight’s game that they’ll pick the team for us – on how they are in games and how they are in training. We want to try and be really competitive in time for the season’s start.
“They’re all getting in the right place for 14 August.”