WE’VE brought Jack Sampson to the club this week on an initial month long loan deal and we’re close to bringing in another forward as well.

The striking department is an important part of any football club and it’s nice to have players in that position under pressure.

That’s what we have here now and having competition for places is always healthy.

Nobody can afford to relax and I think that will bring out the best in our players.

It certainly gives me a few more options and food for thought for the game at Northampton Town tomorrow.

Since I’ve been at Southend I think we’ve played them three times and haven’t won so it goes to show that they are always very difficult to play against.

They certainly have better places than their current position in the table (23rd) suggests and they’ve had some good results in recent weeks.

Winning at 2-1 at Morecambe last weekend was a fantastic result for them and before that they also drew at our promotion rivals Shrewsbury Town.

Before that they lost to a last minute goal against an in form Swindon Town and are proving to be difficult to beat at this time.

In Aidy Boothroyd they have a good manager and you always know what to expect from his teams.

He has a style which works well and we will have to be able to deal with what Northampton do throw our way.

They will definitely be wanting to improve their home form as I think that will determine whether or not they work their way up the table.

But we’re focusing on our own performance and making sure we play well because this is definitely a potential banana skin for us.

We were all delighted to get back to winning ways against Port Vale last Saturday and it’s also been pleasing to have done our business early in the January transfer window.

Making Michael Timlin’s loan move permanent was a no brainer because of how well he’s been playing for us and we had always aimed to bring in another winger and at least one more forward.

Elliot (Benyon) offers us something different and so does David Martin.

At times this season I’d felt that it Ryan Hall wasn’t on form then we didn’t really have a way of mixing things up or coming up with something different.

But that’s no longer the case and we now also have young Jack to throw in to the equation as well.

He’s here for an initial month and if he excites us during that time then we will extend the loan spell for even longer.

Jack’s an England under 19 international, he’s a big lad, has a strong build and is left footed so again it’s an alternative option for us in attack.

He gives us a bit of back up height wise and is definitely an exciting prospect.

He’s probably still quite some time away from pushing for a place in the Bolton first team so it will do him good as well to get games.

I’m looking forward to working with the lad and seeing what he can bring to the show.