Hamilton Academical sign Mason Bloomfield, Tom Taiwo, Aaron Smith, Sam Kelly, Aaron McGowan

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Mason Bloomfield in action for Dagenham & RedbridgeImage source, Getty Images
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Mason Bloomfield is on loan from Norwich, after spending last season at Dagenham & Redbridge

Hamilton Academical have signed five more players - Mason Bloomfield, Tom Taiwo, Aaron Smith, Sam Kelly and Aaron McGowan - in their recruitment drive.

Norwich City forward Bloomfield, 21, joins on loan while midfielders Taiwo, 28, and Smith, 20, arrive from Falkirk and Nottingham Forest, respectively.

Winger Kelly, from Grimsby, and full-back McGowan, from Morecambe, bring Accies' summer signings up to eight.

They had already signed defenders Alex Garcia, Ziggy Gordon and Alex Penny.

Bloomfield says Norwich team-mate Carlton Morris' experience at Accies sold him on the move.

"I know Carlton was here before from Norwich, went on to do good things and went back a better player," he said.

"I want to do the same and help push this club up the league.

"When I had the opportunity to come up here, I jumped at it. It's a great club to be at and a great league to play in."

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Morris (left) scored eight goals in 33 Hamilton appearances

Morris went on to be a regular for Shrewsbury Town last season as they finished third in League One.

Bloomfield has joined Norwich from Dagenham & Redbridge, his three goals in 26 appearances last season helping the Daggers to an 11th-placed finish in the National League.

Goalkeeper Remi Matthews also had a spell on loan at Hamilton from Norwich and Accies manager Martin Canning hopes the link with the English Championship club will prove successful again.

"We've used the loan market to good effect in the past with Remi and Carlton in particular," he told the Hamilton website., external

"Mason is a great addition to our forward line - he's 6ft 3in, he's mobile and he's got a real desire to come here and score goals."

Full-back McGowan, 21, said he turned down other offers to sign for Hamilton, who finished 10th last season in the Scottish Premiership.

He said: ''People might look at Hamilton as a club and think 'you're not one of the big boys' in the Premiership, but I don't look at it like that. I don't care who we're playing against, I just want to win games on a Saturday.''

Taiwo, who graduated from Chelsea's academy 10 years ago and previously played with Hibernian and Carlisle United, said:, external "I got a call from Martin a couple of weeks ago and from there it snowballed pretty quick with both sides eager to get it done.

"The main attraction was the way the manager spoke about the togetherness, the team spirit and how the boys fight for everything."

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Taiwo has made almost 200 club appearances in Scotland

Smith was Forest's top goal-scorer in the Under-23 Premier League.

He said: ''For me, I just want to try and get my name on the team sheet first and foremost. It's a big stage up here in Scotland and the club have a good track record of bringing through young players.''

Penny was a product of the Jamie Vardy V9 academy and has paid tribute to the England striker for helping him clinch a two-year deal at the Superseal Stadium.

The academy is designed to spot non-league talent and help them land a professional contract.

"It was massively beneficial for me because you were around 42 other players," Penny said. "You might play against them, you might hate one another, but you learn, you learn about yourself.

"It was a professional environment as well because it was the Etihad campus, which obviously was magnificent, and you're put in that environment where you've got the opportunity to be like a pro and train like a pro.

"So I'm always going to be thankful to Jamie and the backroom staff for it."

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