Paper Talk: Jewell keen to strengthen

Last updated : 04 March 2004 By Paul Farrington
The Wigan Athletic boss would ideally like to bring in two new faces to help maintain the club's promotion push.

He has relied on a tight-knit squad all season, but doesn't want to be left threadbare by injuries or suspensions once the shutters come down on the last Thursday of the month.

Whether Jewell goes for permanent transfers or plays the loan market remains to be seen, but he is hopeful of doing some business in the coming weeks.

He said: "There are a lot of games coming up in a short space of time so we need to look at that.

"We might try and add one or two new faces to the squad between now and the deadline. It will be important to get the squad up and cover for injuries and suspensions."

Jewell won't publicly identify which positions he would like to bolster.

But will Southampton's Chris Baird being a long time target, right-back seems one slot he is anxious to cover.

Nicky Eaden has been an ever present this season and most of last, but has been sweating on four bookings since October.

Midfield is another area the boss may seek cover for, especially with Tony Dinning out on loan at Blackpool for a second month and seemingly out of favour at the JJB.

Jewell has limited himself in the transfer market this season, making Latics' promotion push all the more remarkable to those outside the club.

Geoff Horsfield was bought and sold within three months earlier this term, before Jason Roberts and Alan Mahon arrived in January.

Meanwhile, Jewell has praised his players for getting the club into the promotion shake-up.

They remain in third place despite Tuesday's game at Gillingham being called-off less than two hours before kick-off.

And he is backing them to push on and make a determined push for promotion come the end of the campaign.

He said: "I'm proud of the players here and the way they've conducted themselves.

"Some of them have played out of position, some with injuries, while they have put the team before themselves.

"It's all good stuff and hopefully we kick on from here.

"I've never had a run like this before in my career.

"Since Christmas in my first season here, I bet we haven't lost more than 13 or 14 league games which is a phenomenal achievement."

Sunderland moved back up to ninth in Division One last night with a 3-1 win at Walsall.

Julio Arca gave the visitors an 18th-minute lead, but that advantage was wiped out by Neil Emblen's header eight minutes after half-time.

Less than 60 seconds later Kevin Kyle rose to nod in John Oster's cross, and Marcus Stewart made sure of the points nine minutes from time.

Source: Wigan Evening Post.