NEWPORT County boss Peter Beadle was delighted after swooping to sign former Wycombe and Forest Green man Charlie Griffin, admitting he has been targeting the striker for over a year.

The Exiles completed a deal to bring free agent Griffin to Spytty Park, beating off competition from Conference sides Grays Athletic and Weymouth.

Griffin, 27, was John Gorman's first signing for the Chairboys in 2005 and signs on the dotted line for the Exiles after a spell on loan at Forest Green this season.

He began his career with Swindon before joining Conference outfit Woking and then moving to Forest Green, scoring 20 goals for them in the 2004/5 season.

This alerted then Wycombe manager Gorman to his potential and he joined the ranks at Adams Park, before a loan spell was cut short at Forest Green this season and he was released from his contract in January.

The signing of Griffin - whose brother Alan plays for Chippenham Town - comes less than a week after the Exiles brought in experienced campaigner and former England B international striker Dean Holdsworth.

County have failed to win since striker Matt Green was sold to Cardiff City on January 31 and key front-man Julian Alsop is currently injured, so Beadle desperately needed to boost his frontline.

He explained: "I am delighted to have signed Charlie, he's someone I have been interested in since I first joined the club.

"He has plenty of experience, is the right age, has a great pedigree of scoring goals and I think he'll be an important player for us."

Griffin goes straight into the squad for Saturday's clash with Welling United, with Beadle playing down claims that the clash will make or break the Exiles' season.

The Kent outfit are currently riding high in the Conference South eight points above County in fourth spot.

Beadle has also been galvanised by the return to fitness of inspirational skipper John Brough, who completed a full training session on Tuesday for the first time since straining his neck a fortnight ago.

A victory would take County to within five points of the visitors with a game in hand, but defeat would seriously dent their playoff aspirations.

However, the manager refuses to view the clash as make or break. He explained: "We will still have 51 points to play for after the Welling game and people need to remember that our season is only just over half-way through.

"We still play Fisher, Salisbury, Havant and Bishop's Stortford and all the teams in the top nine or ten have everything to play for. If we get a win on Saturday that's fantastic, but we aren't out of contention if we don't."

Beadle admits the addition of Griffin and the return of Brough comes at a great time.

"Having Charlie on board means that we have four strikers in contention which is great, I had no senior strikers at all a couple of weeks ago," he said. "And obviously having Brough back is a big boost as well, he's a massive player for us, we always miss him when he's out of the side."

One player not heading for Spytty Park is young striker Steve Cook. He headed back to Taunton Town last week just months after leaving for Chippenham, prompting suggestions a move to Spytty Park could be resurrected.

Cook, 19, had agreed a deal to join the Exiles earlier this season but performed a dramatic U-turn in order to get a guarantee of first team football, but the move to Chippenham did not work out.

Beadle said: "I always felt Steve needed time before he was the finished article just like with Matthew McEntegart (who reneged on a deal to join the Exiles in the summer, opting for Forest Green instead and subsequently loaned out to Lewes having failed to make the grade).

"I won't be moving for Cook again, just like we didn't go for McEntegart when he quickly became available. The fact that I was proved right with both players shows I do know what I am talking about on certain occasions!"