AGENHAM and Redbridge have signed Ebbsfleet United defender Ross Smith on a two-year contract.

The 26-year-old becomes manager John Still's fifth signing of the season, after already securing the services of Jon Nurse, Magnus Okuonghae, Richard Graham and Shane Huke.

Smith has spent the last two seasons with the Kent club, which recently changed their name from Gravesend and Northfleet, where he made 58 Conference appearances for the club after joining them from Margate in the summer of 2005.

Meanwhile, negotiations are said to be ongoing over the reimbursment of a reported £150,000 insurance money that is preventing long-serving goalkeeper Tony Roberts from playing in the Football League. The payout was awarded to the player (pictured, right) after he broke a finger in a match with Millwall in 1998 which forced him to retire from professional football.

With seven weeks remaining until the start of the season, it is touch and go whether Roberts, who has made 311 appearances for the League Two outfit, will kick off the new campaign with the team.

Team manager John Still and chairman Dave Andrews are hopeful that the issue can be resolved in time, but it is not known whether the insurance company is prepared to accept less than the original amount awarded.

The Daggers' longest serving player's testimonial match against West Ham is on July 14 at Victoria Road, but it remains uncertain whether Roberts will pen a new deal at the club, until the insurance deal is agreed.