Former Queens Park Rangers defender snapped up by Horsham FC as club part ways with well-liked centre-half

The Hornets have brought in centre-half Jack Strange from Kingstonian, and said goodbye to popular centre-back Danny Dudley, in a bid to shore up the club’s porous defence.

Strange began his career at QPR’s academy before joining Corinthian-Casuals, via a brief stint at Sutton United.

The 25-year-old made over 200 appearances for Casuals, winning numerous individual awards, before moving to the K’s in the summer.

Di Paola said: "We’ve not defended well this year, so we have to come up with a way of defending that sees us concede less goals.

“We tried to get him [Strange] in the summer. He’s a mobile centre-half, who’s got a bit about him. He’s played a lot of games at this level, which is good.

“Duds [Dudley] knew that he needed to be playing more, and we had a slight inkling that he might not be hanging around, so to get someone in who can almost take that position straight away is a really good thing.

“I can’t complain. I’m really happy with the signing, and he seems like a nice lad who will fit what we’re looking for.”

Dudley, who had a stop-start Hornets career through Covid and injury, departs Horsham after making 33 appearances in two years.

Di Paola added: “He’s had a couple of injuries while he’s been with us. But the saddest thing for Duds is that he came in just before everything got locked down by Covid. All the boys lost a lot of football that year, but I did feel for Duds. We were really excited about getting him in.

“He got injured just before the start of the following season, then he got injured again and missed the second half of last season.

“He got married in the summer, missed a bit of pre-season, [we then] got him out on loan to get him some game time, and he came back in and played six games recently. But he just wants to be playing all the time, and I respect that.

“Equally, none of our defenders have allowed us to get clean sheets, so we’ve had to keep chopping and changing it to try and get a combination that will work for us. I kind of feel that’s where we were with Duds, but it’s a shame.

“He’s a really nice lad. The boys liked him and he fitted in well, and I’m sure he will get another club and do really well.”