Signing a new central defender remains the priority for Braintree Town manager Alan Devonshire.

The Iron have had mixed fortunes in their pre-season games so far, with 7-0 and 4-0 wins at Long Melford and Stanway Rovers respectively last weekend.

However, they followed that with a 6-1 defeat by a strong Norwich City side at the Amlin Stadium on Tuesday ahead of another home game against Southend United tomorrow (kick-off 1pm).

Devonshire said he wasn’t happy with some of the defending he saw against the Canaries and feels replacing Dean Wells after his departure to Stevenage has to still be top of his priority list.

He said: “I’m working hard on it, but it’s not easy because it has to be the right one.

“That’s my priority at the moment, but there are a couple more places as we are three or four players short."

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