HEREFORD United look to have discovered another French gem with the arrival of Yoann Arquin.

The 23-year-old striker, who has given some impressive displays in pre-season, marked his competitive debut at Edgar Street with the only goal against Brentford. His injurytime strike earned the Bulls a place in the second round of the Carling Cup.

“I’m delighted for the team,”

he said. “We kept pushing and I went on for the last 20 minutes and I’m really pleased to score the goal which takes us through to the next round.

“The ball was worked out to Joe Colbeck, he got it into the centre and I moved into position, received the ball and scored.

“I don’t mind who we play in the next round of the Carling Cup, the most important thing is next Saturday.”

While comparisons with Matthieu Manset, who moved on to Reading in Janury andscored twice for the Championship club in a 2-2 draw with Millwall on Saturday, are inevitable, the pair moved in different directions in their home country.

Manset was born and brought up in the Parisian suburbs and went to play his football in Le Havre; Arquin went the other way.

“I come from Le Havre, but I played in Paris with Paris St Germain and Red Star,” he said.

While his old life in Paris has been left behind for the time being, the young Frenchman seems quickly to be getting used to life on this side of the Channel.

“I like Hereford, it’s a nice town,” he said. “It’s a good club and a good team. I have a flat here and so far it’s going well.”

And he’s taking a phlegmatic attitude to the battle for a place in attack - in his first two games, he has had to be content with a place on the substitutes’ bench before joining the fray in the later stages.

“There are three of us for the positions in attack, Delroy Facey, Stuart Fleetwood and me - it’s up to the manager who plays,” he said.

There are few people in Hereford with whom he can speak in his native tongue, but his lack of English has not hindered him in his job.

“While I don’t speak much English yet, that’s not a problem because we can all speak the language of football,” he said.

Arquin will surely come into contention for a starting place in the next week when United entertain Morecambe on Saturday and Macclesfield next Tuesday.

Michael Townsend will be available for selection after competiting his two-match ban but United will have to chack on the fitness of goalkeeper Adam Bartlettm, Stefan Stam and Rob Purdie before naming their side.