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Neil Lennon wants Wanderers to finish the season unbeaten – and has called on two Championship specialists to help him make the perfect start in tonight’s Lancashire derby.
Defender Paddy McCarthy was sworn in officially at the Macron yesterday, adding to last week’s new midfield recruit Giles Coke, with both players going straight into the squad to face Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park tonight.
While talk of both promotion and relegation has subsided, Lennon refuses to allow the Whites’ season to sink into obscurity.
“I want to finish unbeaten,” he said. “We finish strongly, then at the end of the season we see where we are and go from there.
“It was important we brought a couple more bodies on board and in Giles and Paddy I’ve got players who have got the experience at this level. There is a comfort there, a knowledge that they know what they are getting themselves into.”
Dublin centre-half McCarthy passed a medical yesterday to complete his loan move from Crystal Palace, while Coke’s move from Sheffield Wednesday was rubber-stamped at the end of last week.
It followed the news that Darren Pratley, Zach Clough, Kevin McNaughton and – most likely – David Wheater are unavailable for the rest of the campaign through injury.
“I’ve got 12 players out – that’s one who team and a sub,” Lennon reasoned. “I’ve certainly never experienced anything like it before and some of them are long-term which is again very disappointing.
“Paddy brings a hunger to play because he hasn’t really featured that much since being on loan at Sheffield United. There will be a willingness to impress.
“At 31 Paddy is a man, he has got leadership qualities and he’ll head the ball. He’s an ideal replacement for David (Wheater) really.
“Giles is athletic, strong, tactically very good and should get around the pitch and put his foot in,” he said. “He’s experienced at this level and I liked him at Motherwell.”
Wanderers hope to have Andy Lonergan, Craig Davies and Emile Heskey involved in tonight’s squad but Lennon has tempered expectations that Mark Davies could be back in action within the next couple of weeks.
“I’d love to think that would be the case but he’s only just back out training on the grass, so I think it would be unlikely we’d see him playing again for a good few weeks.”
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Defender Paddy McCarthy was sworn in officially at the Macron yesterday, adding to last week’s new midfield recruit Giles Coke, with both players going straight into the squad to face Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park tonight.
While talk of both promotion and relegation has subsided, Lennon refuses to allow the Whites’ season to sink into obscurity.
“I want to finish unbeaten,” he said. “We finish strongly, then at the end of the season we see where we are and go from there.
“It was important we brought a couple more bodies on board and in Giles and Paddy I’ve got players who have got the experience at this level. There is a comfort there, a knowledge that they know what they are getting themselves into.”
Dublin centre-half McCarthy passed a medical yesterday to complete his loan move from Crystal Palace, while Coke’s move from Sheffield Wednesday was rubber-stamped at the end of last week.
It followed the news that Darren Pratley, Zach Clough, Kevin McNaughton and – most likely – David Wheater are unavailable for the rest of the campaign through injury.
“I’ve got 12 players out – that’s one who team and a sub,” Lennon reasoned. “I’ve certainly never experienced anything like it before and some of them are long-term which is again very disappointing.
“Paddy brings a hunger to play because he hasn’t really featured that much since being on loan at Sheffield United. There will be a willingness to impress.
“At 31 Paddy is a man, he has got leadership qualities and he’ll head the ball. He’s an ideal replacement for David (Wheater) really.
“Giles is athletic, strong, tactically very good and should get around the pitch and put his foot in,” he said. “He’s experienced at this level and I liked him at Motherwell.”
Wanderers hope to have Andy Lonergan, Craig Davies and Emile Heskey involved in tonight’s squad but Lennon has tempered expectations that Mark Davies could be back in action within the next couple of weeks.
“I’d love to think that would be the case but he’s only just back out training on the grass, so I think it would be unlikely we’d see him playing again for a good few weeks.”
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