PAUL Cox landed striker Jordan White at the second time of asking, luring him to Barrow AFC a year after the club missed out on his services.

White signed a one-year deal with the Bluebirds this week – with the option for a second based on appearances – after his release by National League rivals Wrexham.

The 25-year-old was the Dragons’ top-scorer in the league last season – with seven goals – despite missing the first three-and-a-half months of the campaign due to a blood infection.

He moved to Wales from Scottish Championship side Livingston, with Cox and Barrow among the sides also trying to secure his signature 12 months ago.

The AFC manager is happy to have his man, and expects the new recruit to show off a natural instinct for scoring goals at Holker Street next season.

He said: “It has been on the cards for quite a while. Initially, we tried to sign Jordan last season, we were aware of him then.

“He went to Wrexham and he had a bit of bad luck in the early part of the season, he had something wrong with his blood, which kept him out of the game for three months.

“He finished the season strongly, with goals, and he adds to what we have already got up there.”

Cox added: “He had some sort of blood infection, and he said if they hadn’t have caught it, it could have been a lot worse. He’s fully recovered. We’ve kept an eye on him, and at 25 years of age, he’s the kind of player who, if he gets off to a good start, we could have trouble keeping hold of.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Delighted to sign with <a href="https://twitter.com/BarrowAFC">@BarrowAFC</a> can't wait to get started and looking forward to the challenge ahead 🔵⚪️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/promotionpush?src=hash">#promotionpush</a></p>— Jordan white (@Jordan92White) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jordan92White/status/867080073249263616">May 23, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Former Clyde, Falkirk and Livingston forward White is the first new face to come into Holker Street this close-season, adding to the 11 players already on contract.

The 6ft 4ins Scot, from Lanarkshire, played 25 games for Wrexham last season, scoring those seven goals, which were still enough to make him their top-scorer.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “Delighted to sign with @Barrow AFC can’t wait to get started and looking forward to the challenge ahead #promotionpush”.

Before his Wrexham move, White enjoyed two productive seasons at Livingston in the Scottish Championship, scoring 21 goals in 69 league appearances and 31 in 88 games across all competitions. He was top goal-scorer for the club in both those seasons.

White previously netted 28 goals in 65 games for Stirling Albion, where he also topped the club’s scoring charts for two successive campaigns.

Cox recognised those goal-scoring attributes, and said of the Chester-based front-man: “When we look at what we’ve got, his movement in and around the box, and his ability to be a natural goalscorer, are what we first saw in him.

“Saying that, if you look at his goals montage, he scores every kind of goal you can think of – long-range, headers, everything.

“He fits the spec in terms of when we lost Byron Harrison last year, we lost the use of somebody who can retain the ball in good areas and be articulate in terms of bringing people into play and setting up a phase of play for us.

“These are all skills Jordan has, he’s not just a goal-scorer, he’s a very intelligent footballer as well.

“He’s played two years in the Scottish Championship, in the same style of football associated with the Conference.

“People will look straight away at the physicality of the lad, but he’s not just a head on a stick. He’s technically a very good footballer.

“I think he just had a bit of bad luck last year and he is absolutely raring to go next season.”