DONCASTER Rovers have made their third signing of the summer when Dutch defender Jos van Nieuwstadt put pen to paper on a two-year deal.
The 29-year-old defender joins the Championship newcomers following two successful trial appearances for Sean O'Driscoll's side in the wins over Newcastle United and Port Vale in pre-season games.
van Nieuwstadt, who had watched the 1-1 draw with Scunthorpe with his agent, impressed Rovers' supporters with his excellent reading of the game and cool head under pressure.
"I'm very delighted to sign," said van Nieuwstadt
"I came here last week and the first impression I got was very good. I played a game here and the atmosphere was brilliant, so I was delighted to sign here."
"I'm not a kick-and-rush kind of guy; I like to play clean football, so I think I have come to the right place.
"The lads are good, nice guys who work very hard and have confidence in the fact that we are going to have a good season"
van Nieuwstadt started his career as a youngster at Dutch side Willem II Tilburg, progressing through the ranks before moving to Excelsior Rotterdam where he has played his football for the past two years.
The Dutch defender will wear the No 4 shirt.
Despite van Nieuwstadt's capture, Rovers are still keen to sign Manchester City defender Matt Mills, in what would be a club-record £300,000 deal, and there are likely to developments today.
"Jos will give us extra cover at the back which was what we needed," said the club's managing director Stuart Highfield said.
"If we can tie up the Mills deal, then I would be happy with the squad; I think we would be quite well balanced.
"We have kept most of last year's squad, which we wanted to do - and there will be one or two more players signing extended contracts, as Richie Wellens did last week - because we want to hang on to them.
"Although we've brought several players in we've basically got the same side as last season
"One of the reasons we have made a dodgy start in recent years is that we've brought in a number of new players and it has taken the side time to gell and then we've been playing catch-up.
"Whereas this season I can't see any reason why we can't go at it right from the start. I certainly think we could be catching Derby at the right time in view of the signings they have made this summer."
The club will be donating the £1,600 they have received from the Charity Shield pay out to the local branch of the NSPCC before tomorrow's pre-season friendly against Bolton.
The money has been matched by the West Riding Freemasons, of which Highfield is a member.
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