Former West Ham, Liverpool and England full-back Julian Dicks will be showing his support for Wivenhoe Town at their Ridgeons League premier division game against Needham Market this weekend.

Dicks will be jetting into Broad Lane from Spain, where he currently lives, especially for the game on Saturday to meet club officials and the players.

The Gazette reported three weeks ago that the Dragons were hoping to get a former Premier League star involved at the club and the no-nonsense, hard-tackling Hammers legend said he is hoping to be able to add his support in the new year.

Wivenhoe have had a tough time since ex-manager Richard Carter left at the end of October and it was revealed that the club owed players thousands of pounds in the wake of his departure.

However, large strides have been made in recent weeks to get things back on an even keel and an entirely new set of players are now turning out for the Dragons.

Managers Wayne Ward and Dave Whymark have tried to attract young local talent and while success has not yet followed on the pitch, Dicks is hoping that he can help inspire the team to achieve their first league win since Carter’s departure with some encouraging words.

“I have been speaking with (Wivenhoe’s director of football) Nick Murphy-Whymark for a while and I will be coming to give my pennyworth,” said Dicks.

“They are struggling and hopefully I can gee them up a bit and tell them what to expect as I have been in that situation myself as a player.

“I’m coming to help Nick out and for the forseeable future.

“I will be flying in on Friday and then hopefully returning in January to help Nick and Wayne get them back on an even keel.”

Dicks added his support to the policy of Wivenhoe using young players who are local to the area and said he felt that was the way forward for the club.

He added: “I have been watching their results and they have been getting a bit of a tanking recently, but they are kids and they need encourangement.

“It will not be instant success and it may take some time, but I’m an ambitious person and I would want to kick on.”

Murphy-Whymark said: “It’s a long way to come to watch the Dragons, but Julian has kept in touch and has watched recent developments from afar and wanted to come over on Saturday to show his support.

“If he could still pull the boots on I know he would gladly do us a job, I am sure the players and supporters will welcome him with open arms.

“Football takes many twists and turns and you never quite know what’s around the corner, let’s hope that we can put the past five weeks behind us and look to rebuilding for the future.”