First team coach impressed with loan defender's debut

James Collins has praised the debut of new loan signing Semi Ajayi after he was thrown in against Oldham Athletic on Saturday. Ajayi, 22, was loaned in from Championship side Cardiff City after it was confirmed that George Ray had broken his ankle at Colchester United.

Ajayi, a former youngster with Arsenal, had one training session with his team-mates on the Friday, but always knew he had come in on loan for a month to play.

The centre-half was also involved in the only goal of the game as his perfectly struck free-kick found his defensive partner Ben Nugent at the far post and his clever knock-down was converted by attacking midfielder Adam King.

“You never know quite know what to expect when you bring one in and don’t have too much time to work with them but I thought Semi was terrific for us. James said of Ajayi’s debut:

“Having played with Ben before at Cardiff, it was good to have that partnership already in place if you like. That certainly helped us.

He added: “We had to get him in as an emergency because of George’s injury but he played with a real confidence and if we carry on playing like that then he is going to be a good player for us while we wait for own players to get back from injury.”