Oxford City stars are hopeful new Slovakian signing Lukas Szabo will be able to get international clearance in time to make his debut against Bracknell in the South Division tomorrow.

Szabo, a pacy forward, with great stick-handling skills, is now waiting for his international papers to be released from Belgium.

Stars coach Darryl Morvan, whose side beat Romford Spitfires 8-3 last weekend to get back to winning ways, snapped up Szabo after he impressed during a two-week trial.

Szabo started skating in Slovakia when he was five, so has been training for the last 15 years.

He played senior hockey in Slovakia for two years at national level before heading over to the United States for a year-long spell.

Szabo then it was onto Belgium where he has been playing for the last two years.

Now studying in Oxford, he has been impressed by the commitment and skill level shown by his new teammates.

"The level of hockey is better then I thought it would be, so this is good for me," said Szabo.

"The squad has some good players and we are getting on fine.

"It is going to take a while to get to know the players and they have not played any jokes on me yet, but I expect that's to come.

"I hope I will be playing this weekend.

"We are waiting for clearance from Belgium, if everything works out I will be skating."

Morvan added: "He has a proven record playing in the Belgian league.

"Lukas is a quick and agile skater, with good vision around the ice and a good shot.

"We have applied for his ITC clearance from his home federation.

"And we feel confident that he will fit in well to our style of play, and will add some depth to our scoring potential."