Dan Butterworth became summer signing number six this morning when he was snapped up on a two-year deal, and we spoke to manager Paul Simpson about his latest acquisition after another extremely tough Friday training session.
“He’s got experience of playing League One football and he’s a really talented player,” he said. “I’m hoping that we can help him on the next stage of his development.
“He needs to get a club that feels like home, and we think this will be it. He needs to get another good run of games and I think with his technical ability and footballing abilities he’ll make a good fit.
“The one thing I really want him to improve in is his goalscoring record. He’s a really good finisher, he strikes it well off both feet, and he can create opportunities as well. I’m hoping this is the place where we see all of that blossom.”
“Another good thing is that he’s a player who can cover a number of roles,” he added. “He’s a forward player who can be used as a striker, more like a second striker because he’s obviously not a target man, and he can play in wide areas and as a number 10.
“That gives us more options in those forward areas where it’s been no secret that it’s an area we’ve been looking to strengthen. I’m pleased we’ve got him and the challenge for him first of all is to earn a place in the team.
“Actually the first thing he needs to do is to get himself fit, then the rest should follow from that. The conversations we’ve had are all about him finding his football home.
“We’re hopefully going to give him the environment to do that and for him to show everybody what he’s capable of doing.”
As with all new arrivals, the lift around the building could be felt, with the training session visibly up a notch in terms of intensity.
“He joined in training today and the noise level through the session was excellent,” he said. “Everybody was talking and encouraging and I think we need that competition.
“I’m really pleased with the work we’ve done in terms of the defenders and the midfielders, I feel like we’re strong in those areas, so it’s the forward areas we need to add to.
“We’re still looking to make a decision on another goalkeeper so those are the bits we’re focusing on. We’re still waiting on loan decisions for certain players from Premier League clubs, and we’re happy to be patient on that.
“We’re getting good assurances on them, but until they’re in the building we know from recent experience that we don’t count our chickens.
“In terms of numbers, certainly three, probably not four, but we don’t know exactly yet. We’re still light in some areas but, as I’ve said, we’re really pleased with where we are and I do actually think we’re further ahead at this stage then we were last season.
“I think we’ve got a step up in the standard of the players we’re bringing in with the new boys so far. We all knew what Ben Barclay, Jack Robinson and Alfie McCalmont could bring to the party, because of what we’ve already seen from them, but people like Sam, Dylan and Dan have added more to it.
“Hopefully we can keep adding more.”