NATIONAL League hotshot Ross Hannah is the second goal-getting striker added to Barrow AFC’s roster for next season.

The former Chester and Grimsby frontman’s signature on a two-year deal follows that of Northwich Victoria’s Richie Bennett, who was unveiled by the Bluebirds yesterday.

The pair, along with former Hampton and Richmond central defender Moussa Diarra, are the first new faces added to Paul Cox’s squad as he builds towards an ideal roster of 22 – including four strikers – for next season.

Sheffield-based Hannah bagged 26 goals for Chester in the 2015/16 campaign – the same number as Andy Cook fired in for Barrow – including 23 in the league.

The 30-year-old has previous goalscoring form with Grimsby Town, where he was a team-mate of Cook, and played in the Football League for Bradford City.

Cox sees both Hannah, who led the league in goals at home, with 17 for Chester, as having huge goalscoring potential at Holker Street, and said: “If you look at Ross, he’s all about goals. If you look at his record, that’s what it states.

“But, having met the lad and spoken to the lad on numerous occasions when he has been with various clubs, he is much more than that.

“I think he will be brilliant in the dressing room for the lads. He’s got a wealth of experience at this level and I think he will be a little bit more than an out-and-out goalscorer.

“If you were a betting man, you would put money on him scoring goals for us next year – that’s what his record is all about.

“What you have with both Ross and Richie are two players – from different ends of the spectrum – who are both proven goalscorers.”

Despite having signed two new centre-forwards, Cox is not ruling out the possibility Cook will be back with AFC next season.

The 25-year-old has turned down a new deal at Holker Street in order to pursue his dream of playing in the Football League, but should that not work out he could end up back with the Bluebirds.

Cox sees him as working well alongside either former team-mate Hannah or Bennett, and said: “They are not replacements for Andy Cook. We need four strikers – all with different strengths and abilities – for our squad next year.

“Running with just two strikers, or even three, is going to be a difficult task. We want competition up front – we want different options.

“Neither of them are replacements for Andy Cook. Ross and Andy have played together before at Grimsby and they play well as a partnership.

“I would love for Andy Cook to stay and I think that he and Ross Hannah, Andy Cook and Richie Bennett, Richie Bennett and Ross Hannah could all score a lot of goals if they were to play together. There could be good partnerships which develop between two or more of them.”