Reid out, Halford and Cook in...

The lure of the Premiership and being part of the Irish revolution at Sunderland has proved too much for Andy Reid. Hopefully he will get the chance now to finally show what he's capable of if he can steer clear of injuries and keep himself fully fit. The big shorts favoured by those north-east clubs will also suit him.

Coming in on loan are right-back Greg Halford (23) and left winger Lee Cook (25). Both have had fixed fortunes since relatively big money moves to Sunderland and Fulham respectively and both have something to prove. Cook will give us options on the left wing and is reckoned to be a very good crosser of the ball, something that Jerome Thomas and Darren Ambrose could both improve on. Halford will presumably provide cover for Yassin Moutaouakil and effectively replaces Danny Mills.

Assuming there are no late surprises, interest in Jerome Thomas again appears to have dissapated and maybe he will knuckle down and concentrate on doing what he's best at and finally earning a regular place on merit by running at defences and creating goals. The freak accident to Chris Dickson that will put him out for 3 months (apparently he twisted a knee in Reception but "freak accident in a hotel" is often a euphemism for something Fishy!) means Izale McLeod will be retained. Maybe a last opportunity for Izale to show us that he can score goals outside the lower leagues.

On reflection, we appear to have come out of the transfer window better than anticipated. We've probably strengthened the squad in terms of playing options and have actually made a bit of money with which to fund Halford and Cook's wages. I don't believe many, if any of our rivals have actually fared better than us, so we should be able to get our heads down and focus on the run-in.