In his caretaker manager role, John Dreyer moved to sign Neil Mustoe from Dr Martens League high-flyers Gloucester City in January 2003. The aim was to bolster his midfield for an ensuing relegation battle. And you couldn’t ask for that much more experience in one player either. Mustoe started at Manchester United, before moving onto Cambridge United. But it was from the Tigers that he’d come to us.

His league ambitions would not be satisfied outside the Conference, however; Mustoe finding himself joining his former Us acquaintances Dreyer and David Preece here. But the timing of his move was off. Days later, in came Graham Westley and his time with us ended up being restricted to just 25 minutes. Mind you, his efforts were noted; his first touch in Boro’ colours being a fantastic crunching tackle.

He also supplied Simon Wormull with the pass to score a consolation goal in a 2-1 loss at Gravesend.