Boss Glenn Turnbull hails ‘Mr Consistency’ as Rob Evans returns to Moneyfields for a third spell

Evans, who can play at right back or in central midfield, has left AFC Portchester to sign for Moneys for a third time in his career.

‘Rob is a consistent Wessex Premier player,’ said Turnbull. ‘He’ll probably never have a 6 out of 10 game or even a 9 out of 10 game, he’ll consistently give you a 7 or 8, he’ll never let you down.

‘We needed a bit more experience in defence, and Rob will be good in the changing room as well.’

Turnbull’s Dover Road revolution has been built around players who have followed him from USP - in goal, Tom Price; in defence, Tom Cain, Harry Birmingham, Sonny Harnett-Balkwill, Elliott Turnbull and Liam Kyle; in midfield, Callum Glen and James Franklyn; and up front, Dec Seiden and Tyler Moret.

Evans – who scored against US for Portchester in last October's FA Vase tie - is expected to feature at right wing-back in Turnbull’s preferred 3-5-2 formation.

The boss was keen to keep centre half Ed Sanders, part of the Moneys side that beat Baffins in the Portsmouth Senior Cup final at Fratton Park last month. But instead he has joined Baffins, having previously worked with Rovers management pair Shaun Wilkinson and Danny Thompson at Gosport Borough.

If he doesn’t bring in another centre half, Turnbull could start the season with Cain in the middle of a central defensive trio with Birmingham and Kyle either side of him. Harnett-Balkwill’s availability will be limited after the first few weeks as he is off to university in Bristol.

Turnbull could also wait to see how events pan out at other Wessex Premier clubs. Portchester, for example, have signed former Moneys players Curt Da Costa, Tyler Giddings, Sam Pearce, Zak Sharp and Conor Bailey. If Ollie Searle and Craig Hardy also sign, that is a surfeit of defenders who can’t all be regulars.

The Moneys manager admits ‘friendships have been strained’ as a result of taking so many of his USP squad to Dover Road.

He explained: ‘As awful as it might sound, that was always the plan.

‘People have to understand the squad was always going to break up this summer. As soon as we lost the Wessex League Cup final Pagham came in for Franko (Franklyn) offering astronomical money.

‘That’s what people at US have to understand … I know Gricey and Jeffers get it, and I know Bob (Brady, secretary) definitely gets it.

‘The squad was going to break up, so it was better to break up on my terms. I have to make sure I do a job for Moneyfields.

‘If I’d stayed at US I’d probably have lost Franko, Callum Glen, Caino, Tyler Moret. Dec was offered money to go to Baffins - that’s the spine of the team.

‘It’s not all been plain sailing - Sarge (Harry Sargeant, who left US for Baffins when Turnbull was keen to sign him for Moneys) proved that.

‘It’s not a case of clapping my hands and everyone jumps into the Moneyfields net.’

Elsewhere, Olly Long has been promoted from the reserves to the senior side, while Danny Burroughs is at present the only member of last season’s squad to have re-signed - though Turnbull has ‘no worries’ that talismanic striker Steve Hutchings won’t remain loyal.

Hutchings will be handed the Moneys captaincy as a reward for his loyalty, having joined the Dover Road club 10 years ago.

‘Hutch is a good leader, he sets high standards,’ said Turnbull. ‘He accepts people have bad games but he can’t accept people not trying.

‘Danny Burroughs is a great young talent, he did well in the (Portsmouth Senior) cup final and he’s played 25-30 Southern League games. He’s technically very good.’

Turnbull admits there won’t be any more signings from USP, but is still working on bringing in another midfielder.