AFC Fylde boss targets further January bargains

With Dan Bradley returning for his second spell at the club on Tuesday, Fylde then yesterday announced the loan signing of Norwich City defender Timi Odusina until the end of the season.

While Challinor doesn’t expect to bring in another body before tomorrow’s game against Wrexham, Fylde are still very much in the hunt for extra bodies.

“We are still a little bit light on the ground so to get Timi and Bradders back is a big boost,” Challinor told The Gazette.

“It will give us options but the good thing about both of them is that they will cover different positions for us. At the present time that’s important as we haven’t got a massive squad.

“We’re still actively looking to strengthen. We’re still only looking at having 16 or 17 players fit for the weekend so we do need to try and boost numbers a little bit.

“We’ve only got James Hardy and Luke Burke who are out injured so it’s not the biggest of squads, so we must make sure we’ve got enough numbers to see us through an important time because we’ve got league games and FA Trophy games coming up.

“I don’t expect another signing before Saturday, although we are trying.

“We’re being a little bit reactive with potential injuries. We had looked at bringing a midfielder in but it’s now not as much of a priority.”

Challinor revealed Fylde have attempted to extend Arthur Gnahoua’s stay at the club, although the forward’s loan deal from Shrewsbury Town expired at the start of the week.

“We don’t know what’s happening with Arthur,” the Fylde boss added.

“His loan is obviously up, and although we’ve tried to extend it, I think Shrewsbury are more keen on trying to sell him.

“If nothing materialises there we’ll probably look at trying to get another forward player, whether that be a central one or a wide one.

“Again, it’s about getting the right one and not just jumping in for the sake of it.

“I just think with where we are now, the majority of stuff we do will be short-term stuff until the end of the season.

“It’s always difficult around January in terms of what is available. We tend to do the majority of our business in the summer when you can scout and recruit properly and have people in for the start of pre-season.

“I think coming in at the start of January is always a tough one.

“We could get some lads in on loan who are out of contract with an eye to the summer, but as I say, most of our business will be short-term.

“The ones that are potentially different are really short-term deals as cover in the forward area.”

Odusina, who can play in his preferred central defender position or as a full-back, joins the club following experience in the Canaries’ U23 side where he has clocked up 29 appearances.

“Norwich got really high hopes for him,” Challinor said. “He’s gone there and done really well.

“He’s composed in possession and he will suit the way we play. He has really good pace and he’s a good defender too, so we’re really hopeful.

“It will be his first loan and it might be a little bit of an eye-opener, but I’m confident he can hit the ground running, take to it like a duck to water and really enjoy his spell with us.”