CANVEY Island have brought in giant striker Geoff Mitchell as Danny Heale looks to reshape his squad.

The Canvey manager watched his strikers draw a blank on Saturday in the 2-0 loss at Wingate & Finchley, despite hitting the target 19 times.

And, after top scorer John Sands had his contract cancelled by mutual agreement, Heale has acted quickly to bring in former Billericay Town striker Mitchell – and he is expected to make his debut against Hampton & Richmond Borough tonight.

And Heale says the 6ft 5ins forward, who has also played for Redbridge, Hayes & Yeading and more recently Conference South side St Albans City, will bring a strong aerial presence to his side.

“He will bring tremendous presence to the team at the top of the pitch,” said Heale. “He puts himself about and will bring others into the game as well.

“This is the first piece in the jigsaw,” he continued. “We need to rebuild a little bit and there will be a few more in and out over the next couple of days.”

Heale says Mitchell will help replace the void left by Sands, who had hit 11 goals this term.

The hitman has since signed for Conference South side Chelmsford City, and Heale said Canvey weren’t getting the best out of Sands, who is carrying a double hernia.

“John was great for us,” said Heale. “But he was struggling to recover because of the injury and we needed people who could give 100 per cent out there.

“But he is as good as gold and we wish him all the best.”

Canvey will be hopeful of getting over their troubling league run, which has seen them lose three in a row, when they visit Hampton tonight.

The two are tied on 23 points in the league, although the Gulls did the double over their opponents.

“We have had a poor run in the league,” said Heale. “But we were unlucky in the cup games recently so we need a few things to go our way and we will be back in business.”