Gareth Farrelly on signing

Last updated : 09 March 2004 By Paul Farrington

He said:"I'm really pleased to be here and it's pleasing to get away from Bolton where it wasn't working out for me or the club. It's horrible to be out of the team as a footballer and that's why I've been on loan at Bradford and Burnley because all I want to do is play football.

"My loan spell at Bradford finished last week and I really enjoyed my time there because the manager and the coach were great. That spell finished though and I heard about this interest in me and just hoped something would come of it. Fortunately a phone call then came through and from that I was pleased to be able to move.

"Although I played at the JJB for Bradford I don't know that much about the club but obviously I've been aware of how well it's been doing and that speaks for itself. I almost scored here for Bradford but John Filan made a great save from a free kick and then I had another chance later on that I should have done better with. As I said, I really enjoyed myself at Bradford and I genuinely wish them all the very best and hope they can get out of trouble.

"That spell's gone now and all I want to do is prove myself here and do well for Wigan. I'm here until the end of the season and there are no guarantees for the future but hopefully I can do well enough to earn myself a longer deal.

"It's obviously a great time to come here and the lads have been really good to me already. It'll be better when I get fully up to speed fitness wise but that should only take a week or two at the very most. Though Bradford was a good club to play for, it's certainly better to swap that relegation battle for a different kind of pressure at the right end of the table here.

"Where we are in the League at the moment speaks for itself as I said and it's credit to the lads how well they've done so far. Hopefully, I can help them push on in the promotion pack and at the very least we have to be looking to earn ourselves a shot at the play-offs from our current League position."

Quote from wiganathletic.tv