THE O'S made their third signing of the week on Wednesday when Hereford United defender Tamika Mkandawire agreed to make the switch to east London.

Mkandawire, a 24-year-old centre-half, will join the O's on a three-year contract after rejecting the opportunity to extend his stay at Edgar Street.

The Malawi-born centre-half had been a long-time target of Orient manager Martin Ling, so he was delighted to finally capture his man.

He said: "I've been tracking Tamika for over a year, and we had a £60,000 bid turned down for him last summer, so to get him on a free transfer is a real coup.

"He's another player who will offer an improvement on what we've had before and I'm pleased to have signed my third player of the week.

"The wheels are now fully in motion and it's been a productive few days for us - we now need to fetch in more players of this quality and I'm confident we can do it."

Mkandawire began his career at West Bromwich Albion, but it wasn't until a loan spell at Hereford United in October 2003 that he got his first taste of senior football.

He joined the Bulls on a free transfer before the 2004/05 season and played in the Conference promotion final as Hereford earned their place in the Football League two years later.

The central defender then skippered Graham Turner's men on their return to League Two and he has now opted to test himself at a higher level.

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