NEW striker Rob Duffy signed in at Wrexham yesterday and backed himself to score goals as the Dragons bid to climb away from the bottom of the Football League.
The 25-year-old Oxford United striker has signed a month-long loan deal at the Racecourse with an option to stay for the remainder of the season and Wrexham manager Brian Little said his arrival would increase team selection options.
“Rob does not have a great deal of Football League experience, but he scored a lot of goals for Oxford last season,” said the Racecourse boss.
“He’s six feet tall and is a target-man, which is what, for some time, we have been looking for. He was keen to come here and we’ll see how he does. If everything goes well, we have agreed to extend his loan spell until the end of the season.”
Little, who also recruited young West Bromwich Albion striker Stuart Nicholson last week, claimed it was important to explore every opportunity to boost Wrexham’s relatively low goals per game ratio.
“Several of the other lads here could potentially benefit from working alongside Rob,” he added. “We needed a variation from those we have at the moment and we view his signing as an opportunity to put that into the armoury.”
Refusing to rule out further transfer activity, the Dragons boss went on: “We are staying very busy behind the scenes and the aim is to try and get a few more of the younger players out on loan in and around the Conference so that they are gaining valuable experience at a decent standard of football.
“On the other side of the coin we want to improve our own prospects and want a pool of 20 players that we feel can get us out of trouble. We are making good progress on that front and because we need that sort of experience to get us through, we are still looking.”
Duffy, 25, who scored five goals in 21 outings for Oxford this season before falling out with new manager Darren Patterson, had previous Football League experience with Rushden & Diamonds.
“It’s a great opportunity for me and it’s going to be a huge challenge, but I think it will be great if I can play a part in helping to keep Wrexham in the league,” he said after his first training session yesterday.
Duffy, who will go straight into Little’s squad for tomorrow’s re-arranged Racecourse clash with Bradford City, described himself as a target man with an eye for the back of the net.
“I’ll do what I can to try and create chances for the lads around me, and as long we get plenty of crosses coming into the penalty area I fancy myself to score my fair share as well,” he said.
Wrexham’s 1-0 win over MK Dons last weekend has earned Little an engraved crystal football after the Dragons’ victory against the runaway League Two leaders was named F&C Investments Performance of the Week by a panel comprising Sir Alex Ferguson, Howard Wilkinson, Barry Fry, Joe Royle and Dave Bassett. The presentation can be seen on Sky Television’s Soccer Saturday programme tomorrow.
