Ian Allinson has hailed Percy Kiangebeni after he put pen to paper on a 18-month contract extension at St Albans City.

The deal ties the 20-year-old to the Clarence Park club until the summer of 2019 and comes after an impressive start to life with the Saints.

Having joined from Enfield in the summer, the utility man has established himself as an important member of the City squad, much to the delight of Allinson.

“He is 20 years of age and I think he has made good strides in terms of learning. he wasn’t a regular player at Enfield and I felt he was going to be a bit part player here,” Allinson said.

“We have had to throw him in at the deep end due to injuries and I think he has been a star. In the last two games against Thurock and Dartford, his two goals have capped fine performances.

“We know he can play right-back, centre-half or midfield, so it is a great signing for us.

“He is learning fast and, for me, it is a great signing for the rest of the season and for next season as well.”

While matters off the pitch have progressed nicely with the signing of Kiangebeni, City were left frustrated by adverse weather conditions on Saturday.

Their clash with Hungerford Town was postponed just 15 minutes before kick-off after heavy rain left Town’s pitch unplayable.

Allinson stopped short of criticising the referee’s decision to cancel the match at such short notice, but felt the game could have gone ahead.

“At the end of the day the ref has had to make a decision and I don’t think anyone should crucify him for that,” he said.

“We were ready to play the game and you can see from the warm up the pitch has cut up and has ended as a bit of a quagmire.

“There are a lot of supporters who have turned up and there is an expense for them. Maybe we could have started the game and seen how it went.

“You are not going to get perfect pitches at this time of year.

“For me, we could have started the game and we probably would have finished it.”

Despite not being able to complete their fixture with Hungerford, City remain fourth in the National League South table and are five points off leaders Dartford.

They return to action with a visit to Welling United on Saturday in a game which puts them up against a side still in the hunt for a play-off spot.

Welling sit 11th in the table but are only five points off the top seven having played a game fewer than City.

Allinson is aware of the importance of taking three points from the clash for both his side and Saturday’s hosts.

“They are one of those sides that will be looking to catch us as quickly as possible,” he said.

“We will have had a week without a game which is disappointing because we have just hit a bit of form. We would have been tested by Hungerford and taken it from there.

“We have a week to prepare and hopefully we can win the game. One thing we must not do is lose and let them catch up a bit.

Victory over Welling could see City climb as high as second in the table dependant on how Hampton & Richmond and Havant & Waterlooville get on.