M: ‘Kodi. Welcome to the club! What was it that persuaded you to come and sign for Tonbridge?’

K: ‘I spoke to a few managers in the off-season, I think playing well at this level brought a little bit of interest for me in the summer but after speaking with Jay, hearing how he wanted to play, the style of football, it married up with me really.’

M: ‘In what way? What style of play do you prefer?’

K: ‘So, I’m someone who likes to get on the ball, step out, express myself, kind of build attacks from the back and that the exact same brand as Jay really.’

M: ‘Well, that's exactly what we’ve seen in the pre-season games you’ve played in so far. You’re very comfortable on the ball which is something that’s not always seen from centre-backs. You’ve got quite a background that’s taught you that haven’t you?’

K: ‘Yeah, so obviously coming through the ranks of Spurs and Villa and stuff like that has kind of put me in good stead and I posses the technical ability, the confidence to kind of get us on the ball and get us playing.’

M: ‘Ben Swift is another central defender here at the moment. Now I gather you and Ben go back quite a long way?’

K: ‘Yes I’ve known Swifty for ten years now I think. We were really close at Villa so it’s nice to kind of be back playing with him again. He someone that you kind of give everything. You almost go to war with him if you like! So it’s good to have that as a centre-back partnership.’

M: ‘We lost a centre-back here a few weeks ago, were you going to come anyway? Or has it all just happened ever so quickly in the last couple of weeks?’

K: ‘I think it more developed over the last couple of weeks. There were talks back in May, but nothing really came of it then but then obviously since the departure of another centre-back it kind of left a void for me to fill.’

M: ‘You were at Maidstone last year in the National League. Maidstone supporters I’ve spoken to said they were disappointed when you left the club last year. After playing at the level above this and doing well, we look like we’ve got a decent, experienced player on our hands.’

K: ‘Yeah, I’ve got enough experience I think. I’m comfortable at this level and the level above. I’ve played quite a lot of games in both leagues for my age now and I’m looking to build on those stats this year.’

M: ‘Are you comfortable in a four and a three at the back?’

K: ‘Yeah, I’m comfortable in both. I’ve played both throughout my career and I don’t know which is my preferred to be honest, but I do like playing in a three as well as a four, so I’m not really bothered.’

M: ‘And what do you think we can achieve this year?’

K: ‘We’ve got a goal as a group. We want to go and better what the team did last year. I think the team did really well to finish where they did but we’d like to take that extra step.’

This is an adapted transcript from a recorded interview to improve readability. The video interview will be available to watch on our official Facebook channel.