DAN THE FAN: Taking a punt on Barker as returning players offer squad a welcome boost

22-year old George Barker joins the club from Brighton & Hove Albion on an 18-month deal for an undisclosed fee.

The striker joins Town after being highly recommended by current first team coach and former Brighton coach Luke Williams.

With little to no first team experience, the deal is based purely on instinct, but thankfully he shouldn’t have much problem settling in with former Brighton players Yaser Kasim and Grant Hall already at the club.

Another striker possibly joining Town this week is Liverpool’s Michael Ngoo; London-born Ngoo spent time on loan at Hearts and Yeovil in 2013 which resulted with varying degrees of success.

The 6’6 front man would be seen as an ideal replacement for the outgoing Nile Ranger who is expected to have his deal cancelled by the club this week.

I hope that in the near future Ranger will appreciate the gift he’s been given and what he can achieve in his career if he sorts himself out.

Quickly turning to players who want to play for Town, Tijane Reis and Troy Archibald-Henville returned to action in a development XI match on Tuesday afternoon.

After playing in Town’s opening three games of the campaign, Tijane’s season was cut short due to injury.

With manager Mark Cooper short on wingers due to Ajose going back to Peterborough, N’Guessan taking Ranger’s role up front and Pritchard more than likely moving on, his return can’t come soon enough.

Also on Tuesday afternoon, Troy Archibald-Henville made his return from a spell on the sidelines, Troy is somebody who has never enjoyed a settled period in the Town side, and has struggled because of it.

If you ask any Exeter City fan about Archibald Henville they would instantly rave about his time at St. James’ Park, and would welcome him back with open arms.

The big man also made a big impression in his short time on loan at Carlisle United, where the centre-back only played four games.

When he does return to the first team he needs to treat it like his debut, wipe the slate clean, and start again, if he is given a chance he will become an important first team player this season.

One of the few plus points to come from Town’s lack of options up front will be the inclusion of youth team striker Connor Waldon in Mark Cooper’s matchday squad.

Swindon-born Waldon has just returned from a successful loan at Gloucester City where he netted 7 times in 10 games in the Skill North.

His inclusion and potential once again shows the fantastic job all the youth team coaches do at Town.

This Saturday Town welcomes one of the favourites for promotion this season in League One, Peterborough United.

Posh had been a key player in the battle for a top two-spot at the start of the season, but have since fallen away and now sit 10 points outside the automatic promotion places, and just two points inside the playoffs.

After playing an important role for Town in the first half of the season, Nicky Ajose makes a quick return to the County Ground and stands a good chance of starting after being used in his first game back at the club.

After training with him and knowing his game inside out hopefully our backline will be able to keep him quiet on Saturday afternoon.

With Posh only picking up one win in their last six games, Town should take full advantage of their dip in form, and force themselves back into playoff contention by 5pm on Saturday night.

Follow me on Twitter @danjohnson_stfc

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