BRIGHTLINGSEA Regent have re-signed speed merchant Jake Clowsley.

The 24-year-old has been recruited from Bostik League division north outfit AFC Sudbury.

“Jake and I know each other, having worked together before, and he’s a player I’ve always admired,” said R’s boss Tom Rothery.

“He’s tenacious, works so hard and the more players we have like that the better.

“Jake knows the club, can play in a number of positions and will undoubtedly prove a very good addition.”

Former FC Clacton and Stanway Rovers man Clowsley has recently been playing at left-back for Sudbury but Rothery plans to use him in a more advanced role at Regent.

“I see him playing out wide or in the number nine or ten position,” he said.

“We need more bodies on board and I’m delighted to have signed Jake.

“I’m glad he’s agreed to join us and am grateful to (Sudbury boss) Mark Morsley.”

Meanwhile, Rothery has revealed his disappointment that the club were unable to overturn skipper Matt Cripps’ red card, following his recent sending off at Leatherhead.

The defender clearly skidded on the very wet surface and Regent were hopeful video evidence would support them, when appealing to the FA.

However, the original punishment stood and so Cripps has now begun a three-match ban, which started with Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at home to Merstham.

“I was really annoyed that the sending off was upheld,” added Rothery.

“The replays don’t show the actual contact but you can clearly see he slipped.

“There was nothing intentional about it and it clearly wasn’t dangerous play. He got to the ball.

“It’s very frustrating but we’ll just have to get on with it.

“Things like this really hurt us because of the size of our squad.

“It’s only small and when we lose senior players like Matt, Ricky Griggs (currently injured) and Jake Gould (injured in the first half on Saturday), we’re having to replace them with under-18s.

“That’s tough for them, simply because of the level of football we’re at.

“In many ways we’re expecting miracles of them because they’re coming up against much more physical, experienced opponents.

“It sounds like I’m making excuses and I hate that, because I’m not that kind of person.

“But that’s the reality of our situation at the moment and it’s difficult.

“As a group, we keep taking punches on the nose but we’ve just got to keep plugging away, by working and training hard and believing in what we’re doing.

“I’m still completely confident it will turn for us.”

Brightlingsea have now lost their last five Bostik League premier division matches but will be hoping to buck that trend when they head to Staines Town on Saturday.

They had been due to host Leatherhead on Tuesday but that match has now been rearranged for April 10, because the Tanners have a Surrey Cup fixture.

Billy Hunt gave them a 12th-minute lead against Merstham but the visitors turned the match on its head thanks to goals from Charlie Penny (25), Alex Addai (81) and Dan Bennett (90).