Joint assistant-boss Stephen Crainey has welcomed the arrival of new loan signing Alex Murphy as Wanderers add a bit of Premier League potential to their plans, writes Pete Oliver.
Murphy has joined the Whites on loan from Newcastle United for the remainder of the season and trained with his new team-mates for the first time today (Monday).
It remains to be seen if the 20-year-old will be part of the playing squad to take on Charlton Athletic on Tuesday night but will offer Wanderers a welcome added option of the left-hand side of their defence in the coming months.
“It's nice to get a new signing in the building,” said Crainey, a left-sided defender himself who operated in the top tier of English and Scottish football during his playing days.
“He seems a really good kid, an eager kid who wants to learn and wants to be part of our group and hopefully he can enhance us.
“He's at a big club and he's highly thought of up there and so hopefully we can give him that game exposure he needs to kick on in his career. We've had a good record with loans here and hopefully Alex can be one of them again.
“It brings competition to the group and that's what we want. It keeps players on their toes. We want players to be at it every day, which they are, and the best players will play. Hopefully he can add to the group and I'm sure he will.”
Murphy’s arrival in the number-three shirt as Wanderers’ second January signing comes as Ian Evatt’s men look to make the most of their game in hand on many of the sides above them in the League One table and close the gap on the top six.
Victory at home to Charlton would leave Wanderers outside the play-off places only on goal difference after they earned a point the hard way when defensive slackness forced them to twice come from behind to draw 2-2 with Cambridge United on Saturday.
“That's life in general. You get an opportunity to improve and that's what we'll be looking to do tomorrow,” added Crainey. “We’re frustrated we never won the game on Saturday – absolutely – because we demand to win games at this football club. But tomorrow we'll be going into the game in a positive mindset and looking to win and hopefully we can do that.
“The fans demand, we demand, the staff and the players, to win games. Tomorrow is no different. Charlton are a good side and it will be a tough game but we go into the game with confidence and positivity and we're looking forward to it.”
As well as the addition of Murphy, Wanderers also have central defender Eoin Toal nearing a return, although Ricardo Almeida Santos will require a fitness check ahead of the visit of the 12th-placed Addicks after being forced to come off at half-time of last Saturday’s draw with U’s.
Watch Stephen Crainey's pre-match interview on Wanderers TV