THE unearthing of Mark Creighton rivals the recapture of Iyseden Christie as Mark Yates's best piece of business, the manager has revealed.

Yates has been forced to wheel and deal frantically during his first year in the job with only a handful of the players he inherited still at the club.

The Harriers manager is set to be involved in more transfer market activity during the transfer windows with arrivals and departures expected.

But whoever he drafts in or releases over the next few weeks, Yates doubts he will beat the value for money he has achieved with Creighton and Christie.

"Creights has been a great addition to our squad," said Yates, who has recently handed the giant defender an extended contract after snapping him up from Conference North club Redditch United in the summer.

"What he gives us presence wise and defensively - he's a man mountain back there.

"He's played every minute of every game and there's no taking that away from him.

"Getting players from the lower leagues is great when they come off because they don't cost you the earth."

Yates was also delighted to wrap up Christie's Harriers homecoming earlier this week following a strange year for the top scorer.

After leaving for a five-figure transfer fee weeks into Yates's reign Christie failed to settle at Rochdale and became a frustrated figure at Spotland.

A surprise swoop by the Kidderminster manager brought him back to Aggborough on a three-month loan deal earlier this season and he has fired Harriers up the table with 10 league and cup goals.

Christie completed his u-turn by securing his release from Rochdale on Monday and signing a new 18-month deal with Harriers on Tuesday.

"The chairman will probably tell you what's happened with Iyseden Christie is one of the best pieces of business we've done and he's probably right.

"We sold him for a decent fee, took him on a three-month loan this season, paid just over half his wages and then signed him for another 18 months for substantially less than we were paying him last season.

"We're just hoping he can continue to be the success that he's been so far this season."