O'Brien back but Jansen eyeing new defender

Chorley boss Matt Jansen is hoping to secure the services of a young former Football League defender to bolster his squad.
Keil O'Brien puts pressure on the Lowestoft sideKeil O'Brien puts pressure on the Lowestoft side
Keil O'Brien puts pressure on the Lowestoft side

Jansen is closing in on the unnamed target after the exit of right back Andy Bond, and Will Beesley’s anticipated three-week lay-off due to a knee ligament injury.

The Magpies boss managed to lure ex-defender Keil O’Brien back to Victory Park on a temporary basis on Friday - but due to the knee issues that have hampered his time at parent club and League 1 side Bury, O’Brien has only joined on a 28-day loan deal.

And Jansen says he is looking to strengthen further.

He said: “Keil hasn’t played a lot of football at Bury.

“He is not 100% fit.

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“Because of his knee problems we didn’t want to commit to a long term loan, so we have got him on a 28-day loan for the time being and we will see how it goes.

“It is probably going to take Will three weeks to recover.

“Since I have taken over I think we have had 11 different faces on the team photograph due to departures and new signings.

“Signings don’t happen overnight and we are always looking to strengthen but we are getting stronger and stronger.”

Beesley is not Jansen’s only injury concern after forward James Dean tweaked his back in the warm up before the Magpies 2-0 win over Lowestoft.

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That victory means Jansen’s men have won five of their last National League North games and have climbed to eighth in the table.

The one blip in that run was a defeat at home to Gloucester City earlier this month.

And the former Blackburn Rovers striker is keen to get revenge when they travel to Gloucester tonight: “We have won five out of our last six and we have been playing very well.

“The 1-0 Gloucester defeat was a poor game from our point of view.

“We are looking to put that blip right.”