ARGYLE head coach Paul Mariner could not disguise his delight at the granting of a work permit to Zimbabwean left-back Onismor Bhasera.

After a gruelling work of evidence-gathering in the offices of Home Park, Mariner accompanied club secretary at an independent tribunal in London on Wednesday.

The club submitted testimonials from former Portsmouth manager Paul Hart, who chased Bhasera during his time at Pompey, and Sunderland's Zimbabwe international, Benjani. Argyle's ProZone coach Scott Russell also compiled an extensive DVD of footage from Bhasera's former club in South Africa, Kaiser Chiefs.

"Baz, as we like to call him, has got tremendous pace and is tremendous in the tackle," said Mariner. "I was delighted with what happened on Wednesday. We had a tremendous hearing.

"The members of the panel were very sympathetic to what we were voicing, but they were very rigorous in the procedures.

"Scott put footage together from when Kaiser Chiefs played Manchester United in a pre-season game.

"He was going up against (Carlos) Tevez and (Wayne) Rooney, and gave a very good showing. Scott also put together some highlights of other Kaiser Chiefs games, so it was pretty compelling viewing.

"Sometimes DVDs are a little false, but we tried to stretch it out into some free-flowing play, and not just a highlight reel.

"He has got great recovery speed and could actually play as a wing-back in a five if you needed him to."

Bondz N'Gala, meanwhile, is on the verge of completing his loan move to Home Park from West Ham United.

N'Gala held discussions with the London club yesterday and Mariner is hopeful of adding the defender to his squad for the Saturday trip to Coventry City.

"There has been a tremendous amount of pressure on the back four to stay healthy, and we've had to try to strengthen the back line," said Mariner.

"Baz and Bondz have not put pen to paper yet, but it's getting closer and closer."