Boss Ian Evatt is delighted to have Joel Randall on board to help Wanderers have a big second half of the season, writes Pete Oliver.
The Whites reached the half-way point with victory at Exeter City last weekend, which leaves them in the 10th spot in League One ahead of Saturday’s trip to Rotherham United.
Wanderers have played fewer games than all bar two of the sides above them in the table with a four-point gap to make up on the play-off places and prepare to renew their effort with leading transfer target Randall safely in the bag as the first signing of the January transfer window.
“We are so happy to get him,” said Evatt after welcoming the attacking midfield man to the Toughsheet Community Stadium on a three-and-a-half-year deal. “We have courted him for a while, chased him hard in the summer and made several bids. But players of that calibre and quality clubs want to hang onto and Peterborough did not want to sell in the summer.
“We had to respect that but things change in football and he became available and we moved very quickly and the Board were amazing in backing me and backing the club to get players of that ilk in and I'm delighted to have him.
“We've brought him in because we know he can unlock doors and score goals for us. It's another piece (in the jigsaw) and another different option with a different skill set.
“Everyone loved Paris (Maghoma) here last year. Paris brought a different type of skill set to that number eight position and Joe can do the same but also give us flexibility. He can play as an ‘eight’, he can play as a ‘ten’ and he can play wide so, as I said, I'm really happy to get him.”
Randall, who arrived from London Road for a substantial fee, trained for the first time with Wanderers on Thursday morning and will be involved at Rotherham as the South Yorkshire club looks to beat the big freeze for the lunch-time kick-off with a specialised pitch protection system in place at the New York Stadium.
Midfielder Josh Sheehan is also training again following injury, with defender Eoin Toal set to do likewise next week, although, sadly, Kyle Dempsey looks increasingly likely to miss the remainder of the season after learning he needs further knee surgery.
The visit to Rotherham launches a run of seven games in three weeks before the transfer window closes at the beginning of February and Evatt is hoping to build on a recent return of two wins in three games to get his side back into the promotion-chasing pack.
“The last few games over Christmas I think performances improved,” added the Wanderers’ manager. “The Lincoln performance was very good and got the right result, we deserved to win at Mansfield but didn't and we have to own that, and then back to winning ways at Exeter.
“For me, it's about continuing those performances and making them better because if you play well you’ve got a really good chance of winning and that has to be our aim on Saturday, just to play how we have been playing and try to better those performances and if we can do that in difficult surroundings and cirumstances we can get three points.
“There’s half a season left and that's a long time in football. The first half hasn't gone to plan but by no means are we out of it or out of anything. We've got to make sure we have a really strong second half to the season but I think the signs are good. The signs are positive in the middle of a transfer window with things happening and I think we can come out of this really strong and push on.
“I do think there will be some more incomings and outgoings. I think the squad just needs a little bit of freshness, not too much, but a little bit of maintenance and if we can make that happen it’s boding well for the rest of the season.”
Watch the manager’s full pre-match interview and a first interview with new boy Joel Randall on Wanderers TV HERE