The 19-year-old is the second player to move from Rotherham United to Matlock this summer, following Liam King’s arrival.

Harrison has looked impressive in his outings to date for the Gladiators, with Brown acknowledging that midfield was an area that needed surgery ahead of the new UniBond Premier Division campaign, which kicks off in a fortnight’s time at FC United of Manchester.

“We're very pleased to have him,” said Brown.

“He's shown a lot of promise and we reckon we've got a very good player, which sees our policy of signing up-and-coming young players continue.

“We were very conscious after last year that midfield was an area that we needed to strengthen.

“It was our priority really, and with Simon, Liam and Steve Warne we feel we've done just that.

“We're very happy with all the players we've brought in.”

Brown was also pleased with the performances of his and Williams’ charges in all four friendlies so far – a 4-1 win at Staveley, a goalless draw with a Blackburn Rovers XI, a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Chesterfield and a 2-2 draw at Carlton Town – and thoughts are already turning to the starting line up at Gigg Lane on August 16.

“We know pretty much the side we want to field, but there are still places up for grabs,” said Brown.

“We'll now be starting to use a smaller squad and we're gradually getting to the stage where we're thinking towards when the league games start with players now wanting 90 minutes under their belts.”

New signings Ashley Foyle and Ross Hannah have also caught the eye, the latter scoring twice on his first Matlock start against Carlton.

“Considering he'd been away he looked quite sharp and showed some nice touches when he came on against Chesterfield, and then he played really well on Saturday,” said Brown.

“People keep saying we have a headache in terms of selection with Dene Cropper back doing very well and Simon Barraclough in there. But we don't treat it as a headache. It's a real positive having three strikers like that who all look committed and hungry.

“That's brilliant for us."

The first of the remaining five friendlies is tonight (Thursday) at UniBond First Division Stocksbridge Park Steels before Town journey to Rainworth Miners Welfare on Saturday.