RICHARD Hall is counting down the days to his Cradley debut.

Hall, a former top flight title winner with Peterborough, has been drafted in to bolster the Heathens for a late play-off push.

He will make his bow at Birmingham when they face the Isle of Wight next Wednesday, August 9.

He said: “For the last few years I’ve been involved, I just feel I’ve been messed around no matter where I’ve ended up.

“Everything seemed okay at Redcar earlier this season then they got rid of me. I then went to Peterborough and again, empty promises were made and I’d just had enough.

“I was ready to pack it all in and I was just starting to sell some of my equipment.

“I’ve had a couple of National League clubs after me this season already but for one reason or another things just haven’t happened.

“But Cradley came calling and I couldn’t say no really.

“Nigel Pearson played a big part; I’ve known Nige for a fair few years now – he’s a top bloke and I’ve got a lot of time for him.

“Cradley are a massive club, especially at this level and they’ve still got ambitions to do well.

“I followed the meeting on Monday at Kent and it was disappointing to see them lose like that – but that’s where I want to come in and make a difference.

“They all know what Tom (Perry) and Danny (Ayres) can do by now and that’s where I have to come in and fill the gap between them and the riders lower down the team.

“I’ve got to come in and score at least eight points but I really want ten to 12 a meeting – and at this level I know I should be able to do that.

“If us top three can do our jobs then it only needs the second strings and the reserves to score their average and we should be winning meetings.

“We know we need to beat the Isle of Wight next week – and we could do with hitting a big score as well to remind everyone of what we can do and show them how we mean to go on from now until the end of the season.

“I still think Cradley can make the play-offs – but we know we need to win all of our meetings to give ourselves a chance."