BARNSLEY boss Keith Hill has revealed all four of his new loan signings will “be involved” at home to Cardiff City tomorrow.
Nottingham Forest loan striker Marcus Tudgay is almost a certainty to start having impressed on his debut in last weekend’s away draw with Bolton Wanderers.
Former Wednesday ace Tudgay struck up a promising partnership with strike partner and leading scorer Craig Davies at the Reebok Stadium, with Hill unlikely to change anything up top.
But Hill has stressed he’s “not stupid enough” to start with all four of his new recruits against the Bluebirds at Oakwell, conscious of the integration period needed for his signings to settle in.
Hill swooped to sign former FC Porto and Queen’s Park Rangers midfielder Akos Buzsaky on Wednesday evening, having earlier in the day raided Forest for a second time to entice former Manchester United, Fulham, West Brom and Middlesbrough midfielder Jonathan Greening to join.
Peterborough United forward Emile Sinclair also signed for the club as well with Hill hungry to get his side back on track having picked up just one point in their last five league outings.
“We’ve got a healthy squad, I’ve got a lot of players to chose from,” said Hill, who is only without the injured David Perkins and Paul Digby for the visit of Malky Mackay’s high-flying side, currently second in the Championship and unbeaten in their last two league matches.
“It’s good competition for places now, but I’m not stupid enough to use all of them [the four new signings] at once,” added Hill.
“There’s going to be an integration period, but the players I’ve brought in have experience, knowledge and pedigree. We’ve needed them because we’ve struggled in the last few weeks. Our performances have been good but it’s about results.”
Last Saturday’s battling 1-1 draw with the Trotters gave Hill and his players a “massive” boost after four successive defeats. But Hill knows the Reds last won at home on 1 September when they beat Bristol City 1-0 and have drawn three and lost three of their last six home matches.
The manager called for his team to “man up” and “grow up” this week, as well as to show “more belief” in their quest to climb away from the wrong end of the table.
And the Lancastrian can be rightly optimistic his new acquisitions will help change the Reds’ fortunes.
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