Whitehawk have placed summer signing Matthew Barnes-Homer on a special fitness programme to get him firing.

Boss Steven King captured the former Kidderminster, Luton Town and Macclesfield striker on the eve of the new campaign after a summer-long chase.

King was manager at Macclesfield when Barnes-Homer scored twice to send Premier League-bound Cardiff City crashing out of the FA Cup at the third round stage in January 2013. In total, he scored 27 goals that season.

The Hawks manager is confident Barnes-Homer will emerge as one of the best strikers in Conference south this season once he is fully fit.

Barnes-Homer missed out on a full pre-season after being released by Cambridge United in May and has failed to score in the first five matches of the campaign.

Finding the net has been a general problem for Whitehawk, despite winning their last three games to climb to sixth in the table.

They have netted just six goals in five games and three of those have come from midfielder Sam Deering, including two penalties.

Strikers Jake Robinson and Danny Mills have scored once each with another frontman, Serge Makofa, yet to find the net.

King believes Hawks will start capitalising on the chances they are creating once Barnes-Homer is fully fit.

He said: “Matthew is not fit enough at the moment. He came to us very late in pre-season, having done some work at Macclesfield but not enough.

“We have got him working full-time with a conditioning coach for the next fortnight so he can make an impact for us. At the moment he is not fit enough to make an impact.

“Once he is fit he will take the chances we are creating. I have no doubt about that, it is just a case of him catching up after missing pre-season.”

King is pleased with the progress his new-look team is making after rebuilding the side in the summer.

They host Farnborough today.