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Torquay United manager Martin Ling has bolstered his squad by signing goalkeeper Michael Poke and defender Tom Cruise on free transfers.

The pair have been recruited after the Gulls centre-back Mark Ellis to Crewe Alexandra earlier this month.

Poke, 26, spent and is highly regarded at the club.

Cruise, 21, played one game for Arsenal and spent time of loan at Carlisle.

Poke began his career at Southampton but played only four games at the club before moving permanently to Brighton in the summer of 2010 - and during that period played 49 games for the Gulls as he helped them get back into the Football League.

"We know he is a quality goalkeeper from his last time here," said manager Martin Ling.

"I tried to sign him last summer and it never came off because Brighton didn't want Michael to leave, but he is an ideal replacement for Bobby Olejnik."

Cruise's last first team game was against Torquay United for Carlisle in the when the Gulls won 1-0.

He was on Arsenal's books since he was eight years old and is an England youth international.

"He was understudy to Gael Clichy for a year at Arsenal and made his professional debut for the club in a "

"He was out injured all last season and this move is an opportunity for him to relaunch his career," said Ling.

"Once Lathaniel Rowe-Turner left the club, we were always looking for a left-back who could also play left-sided centre-half, and this boy can cover both positions."

However, Ling is still in the market for another defender with experience ahead of the new season.

"It toughens up our defensive unit but we realise that we also need to bring in a dominant centre-half to replace Mark Ellis," he added.

"I see Cruise and young Kirtys MacKenzie as my numbers three and four at centre-back, so we need another first-choice defender to play alongside Brian Saah.

"That final player will be someone with experience and at least a 100 games of professional football under his belt."