CONCORD have swooped to bring in the highly-rated Kiernan Hughes-Mason on loan and are likely to start him in their county cup clash with Chelmsford tonight.

The 22-year-old, who scored 15 goals for a Welling side who won the Conference South last season, has joined the Beachboys on an initial one-month deal.

The former Millwall youngster is expected to make his Concord debut when they entertain division rivals Chelmsford in an Essex Senior Cup round four match this evening.

Concord boss Danny Cowley said: “We’re really pleased to have Kiernan. We tried to sign him when he left Grimsby last year and he’s someone we rate highly.

“He played a big part for Welling in this division last year. He’s versatile and quick and stretches defences. He’s just what we need at the moment.”

Concord went out of the FA Trophy following a 1-0 defeat at Gosport on Saturday and Cowley admits the county cup is one they’d love to win this year.

He said: “We are realistic enough to know this is the only competition we have a chance of winning this year.

“You come up against some very good sides from Essex in it and the draw has certainly not been kind to us.

“And we have three massive games coming up next week against Gosport, Eastbourne and Dorchester, which I think will have a real impact on our season because if we can get halfway to our 50-point target by Christmas we’ll be doing really well.

“So we will make use of our good squad here against Chelmsford, and we have some really good options now.

“But we are a team which has got used to success and we know a good cup run can be very important for your league form so we will be trying our hardest to win here and go through.”

Concord are four-points and one spot above 16th-placed Chelmsford in the Skrill South table. The Beachboys have knocked the Clarets out of the Essex Senior Cup for the past two seasons.

Kick-off at the Aspect Arena tonight is at 7.45pm.