MIKE Kearns says St Neots Town’s fans ‘didn’t need a boost’ – but the return of tricky midfielder Junior Konadu has given them one anyway.

Coming so soon after the loss of key players Ben Mackey and Dan Jacob, the re-signing of the former fans’ favourite might be considered a good piece of PR – but the chairman insists he has been working all season to bring the player back to the club.

“He is everybody’s favourite,” said Kearns. “He went to Macclesfield in the summer and probably hasn’t played six full games all season.

“He’s been out on loan but we didn’t want to take him on loan, we wanted him back for good.

“It has been hard to get him and I have been working hard to make this happen all season.

“It’s a great boost for the club and the fans – not that the fans needed a boost, but Junior is great to watch. He’s our type of player.”

Konadu, inset, who is nicknamed The Magician because of the tricks he performs on the pitch, was out of contract in the summer and joined Blue Square Bet Premier side Macclesfield Town after their relegation from the Football League.

That deal was set-up by former St Neots manager Dennis Greene, who later took the player on loan at Histon. Greene is now manager at Boston United in the Blue Square Bet North. It was Greene who broke the news on Twitter that Konadu would be returning to St Neots after his own efforts to sign the player again failed.

Konadu, known as Junior Yiadom at Macclesfield, did not make a single first-team appearance for the club, only playing games when he was loaned out to Histon and then Chelmsford. But he will be a welcome addition to the St Neots team when they face Kettering Town at The Cozy Stadium this weekend. It will be the first of two meetings in five days – they clash again on Wednesday.

Kearns said: “It’s because of the fixture pile-up and the league has said that’s the only date available, so we have to play them twice in a week.

“We’re not particularly comfortable with it. We don’t think that should be happening at this level of football but it’s out of our hands.”

Earlier in the season Kettering were locked out of their Nene Park temporary home. The Poppies have since moved to Corby Town’s Steel Park ground and are bottom of the Southern League Premier with just nine points from 32 games after a 10-point deduction for going into administration.

St Neots’ match at Bashley was one of six called off in their division on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Mackey made his debut for Stourbridge and scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 win over Weymouth – with his first goal for the club coming in just 22 seconds. Coincidently, Stefan Moore scored a hat-trick in his first game for Leamington after leaving St Neots in January.