Hawks sign Lucas Sinclair after trialist’s stunning goal in friendly win at AFC Totton

The former Millwall youth product and Scunthorpe trialist rounded off the scoring with a superb solo strike in the Hawks' 3-1 friendly triumph at AFC Totton on Saturday.

And following discussions with Sinclair and his father after the match, Doswell revealed the 19-year-old put pen to paper on a Westleigh Park switch.

The winger arrived on the recommendation of coach Simon Walton, who has been working with him on his Player Centre programme.

Doswell has been impressed with what he's seen from Sinclair in his brief time with the club.

Now the hope is the 'raw' prospect can realise his potential.

‘Lucas is someone that Simon Walton has been working with,' said Doswell.

'He’s worked with Simon at the Player Centre for the past six months and Simon said it was a no-brainer to bring him in.

‘Lucas is still very young and very raw.

‘He did himself a lot of favours on Saturday because he scored a goal that John Barnes against Brazil would have been proud of.

‘Forget the goal, because that’s an easyish thing to do at times, he's got a lot of stuff he needs to work on and he needs to work hard on his game.

‘But that’s exactly the type of signing we’ve been looking for.

‘I think this young, hungry player that wants to be given a chance fits the profile brilliantly for us.

‘His dad was at the ground on Saturday.

'It was always the plan that we’d sit down with him at the end of the game and we’ve done that, it’s all agreed.

‘He’ll be with the club for two years.

‘We’ll be giving him that opportunity.'

Doswell sees Sinclair as a signing in a similar mould to Dan Ajakaiye, who arrived from Hastings United earlier this month.

Both fit the bill for what the Hawks boss is looking for - young, hungry players determined to show their Football League potential.

And Doswell says it's now up to the pair to showcase their ability.

‘It’s a very similar signing to Daniel, really,' he added.

‘We’ve given them that opportunity to make the breakthrough in two seasons.

‘Ultimately, the job is can we get them a Football League club at the end of it.

‘While we want them to do well for us, part of the dream we’re trying to sell these boys is that they’ll get a chance to move to a league club as and when they do well enough.'