NORTHWICH Victoria manager Steve King believes he has the quickest player in English football, in loan signing Dean Lodge – and he is ready to unleash him on Vics’ Blue Square Premier rivals.
Lodge, 21, joined Vics on a non-contract basis with a view to a permanent move in January from Kingstonian, and thrilled supporters with his electric pace when he came off the bench towards the end of Vics’ 1-1 draw at Salisbury City on Saturday.
King said that Lodge, who was on the books at QPR, has the speed to destroy defences and that he would be almost certain to start on Saturday at home to Crawley Town.
He said: “He is the quickest football player you have ever seen. He is only 5ft 4 and wears his socks over his knees but he’s like Will-o’-the-wisp! He is razor sharp and will cause teams no end of problems.
“The Kingstonian supporters have gone mad that he has left and there have been a lot of clubs watching him.
“Against the slow and cumbersome defences of this league, the only way they will be able to stop him is by bringing him down.”
Watched by a crowd of 999 at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium, Vics faced an uphill battle against City when an error from goalkeeper Michael Jones let in Matt Robinson to score after only two minutes.
But Vics fought on and were finally rewarded for their efforts on 56 minutes when Scunthorpe loan star Peter Winn scored his first goal in a green and white shirt, having been played in by the impressive Rashid Yussuff.
King added: “Yussuff was the best player on the pitch and is settling in nicely.”
