WHAT a week it has been for Truro City and their supporters.

Former Plymouth Argyle man Ryan Dickson made his loan move a permanent one on Tuesday after his release from Torquay United, with former City duo Shane White and Ryan Brett returning to Treyew Road from league rivals Taunton Town on the same day.

And if that wasn’t enough, striker Andrew ‘Rocky’ Neal made it a fab four – and a Taunton Town hat-trick – on Thursday morning.

Any feelings of doom and gloom around the club would have been entirely understandable after their chance of returning to the National League South at the first time of asking was cruelly robbed of them following the FA’s astonishing decision to null and void the 2019/20 season.

And while I’m sure an air of determination to go again next season and right the FA’s wrongs always remained, the news of this week’s signings will have given everyone connected to the club a big lift.

The fact that three of them have come from league rivals Taunton, who were sixth in the Southern League Premier South before the early end to the season, gives the White Tigers the added boost of strengthening their own side and weakening one of their opponents.

The wording of Taunton Town’s announcement regarding the departure of Neal certainly showed the club’s disappointment, with the Peacocks saying they could “regretfully confirm” that their striker was leaving.

In a statement on the club's website, Taunton chairman Kevin Sturmey made reference to an “incredible” offer made to Neal, which perhaps gives us an indication of Truro’s intentions to go out and make sure of that promotion next season.

But whether the White Tigers are flexing any financial muscles or not, the nature of the signings catches the eye more than any rumoured pay packet. Manager Paul Wotton has identified four players with experience both at this level and at the level above.

Dickson comes with a career of Football League experience and was part of Torquay’s title-winning National League South campaign in 2018/19.

The other three have all got good experience of this level of football, with Neal netting 59 times in 80 games in the division for the Peacocks over the last two seasons, while also top-scoring for Truro in the National League South in 2016/17.

But the really telling thing is the capture of Brett and White, who have not only won promotion from the Southern League Premier, they did it with Truro when they last got out of the division in 2015.

It shows that Wotton has wanted to bring in players that know the club and know how to get it into the next division, and that will surely be the number one priority whenever the 2020/21 season comes around.