AFTER raiding Yorkshire for his third successive signing, Darlington manager Martin Gray has suggested that he will again look away from the North-East when bolstering his squad.

Adam Nowakowski joined this week from Harrogate Town, a midfielder who a year ago was interesting a couple of Conference clubs. His move following the arrivals of Rob Youhill this month and Nathan Cartman in January, both from Harrogate RA.

Having previously only signed players from fellow North-East clubs, Gray has grown frustrated at the value some clubs in the region place on their players as well as relatively high wages demands.

“We were always going to have to start looking outside of the area at some stage,” said Gray, who also signed Nelson Mota from Ramsbottom United last season, though has since released him.

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“We’ve got three from Yorkshire now and it helps for their travelling and hopefully help them adapt when coming into the changing room.

“There’s not enough players around here that want to travel in our division or there may just want to stay where they are.

“It’s something we’re looking at doing again, signing players from outside the North-East, and it helps that the three we’ve got in are all coming together from Yorkshire.”

Midfielder Nowakowski, of Polish descent, was Harrogate’s Supporters’ Player of the Season in 2013-2014, but decided to leave his hometown club in March after enduring a frustrating campaign in and out of the side.

“I knew at the back end of the season that his contract was up and I knew that there’d been interest this time last year from one or two clubs at Conference level,” said Gray.

“It’s a situation we’ve kept a close eye on and as soon as I saw that he became available we met and did a deal really quickly on Wednesday.

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“We’ve had him watched a few times. He’s 6ft 2”, centre-midfield and very competitive. He can play centre-half if we need him to, we can play up front in the last ten minutes if we have to.

“But mainly he’s a defensive midfielder with a good appetite for the game, he loves to compete. So he’ll get a chance and hopefully he’ll strengthen the squad.”

Dropping a level from Conference North to the Evo-Stik Premier Division is not an issue for Nowakowski, who’d played close to games 200 games in six seasons for Town.

“My contract was up at the end of last season, and I was looking for a new challenge,” the 27-year-old told Quakers' official website. “Darlington is a club on the up, it has a great set up and a big fan base. They fitted the bill as far as I was concerned.

“I had a few clubs in for me, some were even on my doorstep. But when you’re young, you want to kick on, and I had no hesitation in signing for Darlington.

“I had a few offers from other clubs in the Conference North and Evo-Stik Premier, but Darlington was always my number one. They were my first choice.

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“When it became known that I’d signed for Darlington, I had so many alerts of people following me from Twitter that my mobile phone battery went dead. It shows how passionate the supporters are. I can’t wait, I’m really looking forward to playing for the club. I can’t wait for pre-season to start.”

Meanwhile, Darlington will next month hold trials for potential first team and reserve team players.

Taking place on Saturday, June 20 in Darlington, all players must be 18 years or older and must apply by Friday, June 20.

The trial will be supervised by Gray and Quakers’ first team coaching staff, including the goalkeeping coach.

All training kit will be provided on the day, trialists only need to bring boots and shin pads. The trial will consist of a full training session and a practice match.

To apply, applicants are invited to send a CV by email to commercial@dfc1883.co.uk or by post to Darlington Football Club (Trial), Blackwell Meadows, Grange Road, Darlington, Co. Durham, DL1 5NR

The trial takes place 2-4pm at Longfield Academy of Sport, Longfield Road in Darlington, DL3 0HT.