THE SADDLERS have completed the signing of imposing target-man, Sam Parkin on a one-year deal with a further year option.

The 28 year-old, who stands at 6'2" tall, came through the ranks at Chelsea, where he gained much-needed first-team experience during loan spells at Millwall, Wycombe Wanderers, Oldham Athletic and Northampton Town.

Joining Swindon Town in 2002, he soon established himself as one of the most prolific and feared marksmen in the lower leagues with 67 goals in 124 League games for the Wiltshire outfit.

An extremely popular figure amongst The Robins' faithful, he was sold to Ipswich Town during the summer of 2005 in a £550,000 deal but a broken ankle towards the end of his first season with the club halted his progress.

He was eventually sold to Luton Town, who were then in The Championship, early in the 2006/07 season for £340,000 but his time at Kenilworth Road was blighted by injury.

Starting last term back on form with three goals in the first four League games, financial problems at Luton meant that he was loaned out to Leyton Orient for three months before being released by The Hatters at the end of his contract.

"We are delighted to get Sam on board," said manager, Chris Hutchings. "He is a quality player who retains the ball well and brings others into play.

"His experience is going to serve us well; he has certainly showed the necessary hunger and desire in training and hopefully we can get him scoring regularly again.

"This is another excellent addition to the squad."

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