Connor Wickham is ready to give head coach Frankie McAvoy a selection headache after signing a contract with Preston North End.
The forward has been with the club on trial for the past few weeks and has now officially joined, putting pen to paper on a short-term contract until 13th January.
Wickham, formerly of Crystal Palace, will head straight into contention to feature on Tuesday evening when PNE face Sheffield United.
“I’ve actually really enjoyed it,” Connor told iFollow PNE. “The boys have taken to me really well. I feel like they’re a really good bunch of lads, they’re quite close-knit so I don’t think that’s going to be an issue settling in.
“From now on it’s just about doing the talking on the pitch and on the training field.
“I feel ready. It’s up to the manager what he wants to do, I’ve said to him it’s going to be his decision ultimately who plays on a Saturday and on a Tuesday, that’s going to be his call.
“But I have to give him that headache out on the training field so that’s what I’m going to do.”
The 28-year-old brings with him a lot of experience, having reached the 100-appearance mark in both the Premier League and the Championship.
He felt he then did enough during his trial period to earn his contract and he’s now ready to kick on.
Connor said: “It’s taken a little bit longer than I would have liked, having been around when the boys have been involved in games and watching their preparation and not being able to prepare the same way as what they are.
“But I’m just happy that it’s done now and I can kind of put that behind me and start to look to the future now.
“I was thankful that the club gave me the opportunity to come in in the first place and train and get my fitness back.
“I sat down and had a good few chats with the manager over the course of the three weeks and I feel like we’re going to be in a good place mutually that I’ve got to prove and show the right to get in the team, but hopefully it’s going to work out well.”
Standing well over 6ft, Connor admitted there’s a perception he can only be used as a target man, but that’s something he refuted.
When asked what he can bring to the team, he said: “Hopefully just a different dynamic. Obviously people see me as being a big target man, but I do have good feet, I can be quite quick at times.
“I can bring experience and hopefully more goals as well, that’s going to be the main ambition.
“Obviously if you score goals everyone’s going to be happy so we’ll just try and do that.”
During his spell training with the club, the Hereford-born striker got the opportunity to go and watch his new team-mates in Championship action, and he’s liked what he’s seen.
“On the pitch I’ve been quite impressed to be honest,” he added. “Obviously I went to the Peterborough game and was quite impressed, then the game the other day I think they controlled the game and obviously should have won.
“Hopefully I’ll come into the team and I’ll be able to fit into the team and play the way the manager wants to play and hopefully it’ll be a successful spell.”
Hear more from our new signing in his full interview at the top of the page.