Signing of former Braintree Town defender Adam Bailey-Dennis is exactly what AFC Sudbury need, says manager Mark Morsley

Manager Mark Morsley says the arrival of experienced defender Adam Bailey-Dennis to King’s Marsh is exactly what AFC Sudbury need, writes Alex Moss.

The 28-year-old was announced as AFC’s second summer addition on Monday, joining his former Braintree Town team-mate Sean Marks, who signed up earlier this month.

Bailey-Dennis, who has won two National League South titles with two different clubs, will provide plenty of experience in a youthful back line at AFC.

“Adam is big, experienced and powerful, he’s exactly what we need,” Sudbury boss Morsley said. “He brings with him a lot of experience.

“He’s played at a higher level and will be a great role model for the young lads we have here, like Joe Grimwood and Boris Altintop.”

Bailey-Dennis, a former Colchester United reserve team player, finished last season at AFC’s Bostik League North Division rivals Aveley, where he made five appearances, one of them in the 6-0 win over his new club Sudbury back in April.

“He played against us in the game against Aveley, which they won 6-0, and it was one of those days when everything went right for them,” Morsley said.

“But I remember at the end of the game, Adam talked to me on the pitch and said ‘you guys kept the ball well’, which you wouldn’t expect someone to say about a team who had lost 6-0.

“Bringing someone like him to the club, and Marksy (Sean Marks), I hope will help us with set pieces next season. Our Achilles’ heel last season was set pieces.

“We didn’t defend them well and we didn’t score enough from them, which we should have done from the deliveries we had from free-kicks and corners.

“With Marksy and Adam coming in, that’s two really powerful, experienced guys and it should make us more effective in that area.”

With 10 pre-season friendlies pencilled in for his side this summer, starting at home to Chelmsford City a week on Saturday (July 6), Morsley welcomes back his players for the start of pre-season training on Tuesday next week.

The AFC boss will be without the services of frontman Paul Hayes, though. The 35-year-old, who joined the Yellows last August, announced this week that he has retired from playing and will now focus on his career as an agent.

Hayes won promotion five times in the Football League and made more than 500 appearances in the professional game.

In his debut season at King’s Marsh, he made 40 appearances, scoring nine times, and the experienced striker showed his versatility by playing in defence on several occasions during the campaign.

In April, Morsley announced that Hayes had committed to the Yellows as a player coach for the 2019-20 season, but on Monday the club revealed that he was leaving to further his career as an agent with Core Sports.

“It has been a complete pleasure to work with Paul since he joined the club,” Morsley said. “It’s a shame to see him go. We’ve brought Sean Marks in and we didn’t know how much pitch time Paul would get, but we knew he would get some.

“His attitude has been very professional and he’s been a great guy to have around the place.

“He’s been given the opportunity to further his career as an agent, and I hope we will develop a relationship with him to maybe help some of our younger guys, like he did with Tyler French (signed for Bradford City).”

• The week seven winners of the AFC Gold fundraiser are as follows: 1st £100 (183) E Nicols, The Street, Assington; 2nd £10 (169) K Bloomfield, Bridport Ave, Ipswich; 3rd (£10) Miss L McCarthy, Springfield Rd, Sudbury.