Charlie Oatway confirmed that Albion are in the market for a deadline day defensive signing.
Centre-half and skipper Gordon Greer limped off with a hamstring injury last weekend, which has left Gus Poyet short on defensive options, and the Albion first-team coach is hopefully that a deal will be completed before the 11pm deadline.
Oatway told seagulls.co.uk, “We are still looking for defenders because of one or two things that are going on with the squad, so the gaffer is making a few calls and we’ll see what happens.
“The defence is an obvious area that we need to look at in some depth because of Gordon’s hamstring. The gaffer is on the phone trying to do some business in that area.
“I find it amazing that clubs leave it until the last minute but we are in that situation now. We were stuck in the situation because we did not expect Gordon to get the injury; we’ve got a few more situations in defence too.
“We are going to end up doing business at the last minute as well. We’re looking at high calibre players because that is the position that this club has evolved into. We don’t want stop gaps; the gaffer likes to get a player in for a long time and he’s very particular about that. It depends on how good the phone calls are later on today.”
If Albion do not manage to bring in a defensive player to bolster the squad, Oatway is confident that there is enough desire to cover the defensive position; a trait he feels will also be called upon when the team line up against an imposing Sheffield Wednesday side on Saturday.
“If we don’t bring a player in it will be our job to get by, whatever happens. They are professional footballers and they are paid to play football. We have enough players who have been on the fringes of the squad who would love to play centre-half. That won’t be an issue.
"The boys will have to be up for a tough game against Sheffield Wednesday because they have some big boys up there. They are also a massive club with massive support so it will be a difficult place for us to go.
“They, like many clubs that get promoted, have had ups and downs but that’s always the way. Sometimes you have to find your feet in the division above. It will be a tough game but hopefully we will have another good set of supporters making the trip like the other away games.”
Original article
Centre-half and skipper Gordon Greer limped off with a hamstring injury last weekend, which has left Gus Poyet short on defensive options, and the Albion first-team coach is hopefully that a deal will be completed before the 11pm deadline.
Oatway told seagulls.co.uk, “We are still looking for defenders because of one or two things that are going on with the squad, so the gaffer is making a few calls and we’ll see what happens.
“The defence is an obvious area that we need to look at in some depth because of Gordon’s hamstring. The gaffer is on the phone trying to do some business in that area.
“I find it amazing that clubs leave it until the last minute but we are in that situation now. We were stuck in the situation because we did not expect Gordon to get the injury; we’ve got a few more situations in defence too.
“We are going to end up doing business at the last minute as well. We’re looking at high calibre players because that is the position that this club has evolved into. We don’t want stop gaps; the gaffer likes to get a player in for a long time and he’s very particular about that. It depends on how good the phone calls are later on today.”
If Albion do not manage to bring in a defensive player to bolster the squad, Oatway is confident that there is enough desire to cover the defensive position; a trait he feels will also be called upon when the team line up against an imposing Sheffield Wednesday side on Saturday.
“If we don’t bring a player in it will be our job to get by, whatever happens. They are professional footballers and they are paid to play football. We have enough players who have been on the fringes of the squad who would love to play centre-half. That won’t be an issue.
"The boys will have to be up for a tough game against Sheffield Wednesday because they have some big boys up there. They are also a massive club with massive support so it will be a difficult place for us to go.
“They, like many clubs that get promoted, have had ups and downs but that’s always the way. Sometimes you have to find your feet in the division above. It will be a tough game but hopefully we will have another good set of supporters making the trip like the other away games.”
Original article