TWO players with a raft of Football League experience have landed at Holker Street.

Manager Paul Cox has completed one-year deals for midfielder Asa Hall and full-back Dan Jones, both with options for a second season.

Hall is a seasoned campaigner in the Football League and National League, having helped Cheltenham Town to promotion in 2015/16 and with previous experience at the likes of Luton Town, Shrewsbury Town and Oxford United.

The 30-year-old, 6ft 2ins central midfielder has close to 350 career appearances to his name and spent the latter stages of last season on loan at York City.

Jones, while only 22, has spent the past four seasons playing in League Two – with three years spent at Hartlepool United before an unsuccessful move to Grimsby Town last summer.

Two changes of manager at Blundell Park saw the North- Easterner out of favour, and he spent loan spells with Gateshead and AFC Fylde before being released by the Mariners at the end of the campaign.

Cox, who is set to complete a third deal with a midfielder in the coming days, with other signings to be completed before pre-season training starts at the end of next week, is pleased to have landed both Hall and Jones.

“I’ve watched Asa for a while,” said the Bluebirds manager. “I had my eye on him from my time at Mansfield. He scored against us (AFC) for Cheltenham, was in the team that got promoted from this league, and he has a number of Football League appearances.

“The most important thing about Asa is the absolute desire to go again. He’s a good age at 30, and a very fit, energetic – I’ll call him young – man at 30 years of age.

“More so, every time I speak to the lad, his mind-set is that of a winner. It’s no coincidence with what he has done – the amount of games he plays per season, the amount of times he has been successful as an individual or in a group.

“We’ve brought in a player with a great spec at this level of football, with great experience, but – more importantly – with a hunger and desire still to want to win.

“When we have sat down, a bit like in the Byron (Harrison) situation, I felt a connection with the lad. That’s important between a manager and a player, especially one with experience like Byron and Asa. You get that respect and that connection, which is key.

“He understands what we are trying to build here, he wants to be part of it. He’s quite local to where we are, and it was good for all parties.”

On Jones, Cox said: “Danny is a really good age. He’s one we’re looking to come in and we’ll help him grow while we grow. He’s excellent technically. Like with everyone else, we’re looking for him to come in, get into a rhythm with us, and hopefully we can see a growth of the individual and the group as well.

“For such a young player, there is quite a lot of experience in there. You look at Dan and I think his best years are in front of him. What we’re looking to do, is get him in, strip him down, and rebuild him.

“If he can help us and help himself get back into the Football League, then it’s a win-win situation for all parties.

“He’s very, very good technically. There are things, as there are with every young player, that we can improve on, but overall he has great experience for someone of such a young age.”

He added: “You look at the Grimsby situation, and there was a change of management. I spoke to the management who were in place in the early season when he got his game-time, but when there is a change of management, sometimes that has an effect. Different people have different thoughts. It’s a situation we have profited from.

“To play that number of league games at such a young age shows that there is an incredible amount of base-work that has been done.

“We will still look to rub him down, improve him and help him kick-on so he can help us at the same time.”

The arrivals of the duo take the Barrow squad size up to 12, though Andy Parry and Joel Dixon have both been invited to pre-season training to try to earn new deals.

Cox is also in advanced talks with a new physio and first-team coach to join his set-up ahead of pre-season training starting on Friday, June 30.