Town boss Kieran McKenna has spoken about this week’s two new attacking signings, George Hirst, who joined on loan from Leicester, and Nathan Broadhead, who was recruited for £1.5 million from Everton.

TWTD first revealed the Blues’ interest in Hirst in May last year with Town having tried to sign the 23-year-old in the summer before he opted to join Championship Blackburn on loan.

But after a frustrating half-season at Ewood Park for Hirst, McKenna finally got his man when the Blues announced the signing on Sunday.

“He's a player, and I think it's well-documented that we've liked for a while,” he said. “I think his profile really fits us and all aspects really. He's young but with some experience and good pedigree of coming from a big club.

“Still very much in the development stage, I think he's got a lot of developing still to do. Even at 23, I think he's still physically developing and from a mental point of view, he's still finding himself and finding his confidence and understanding what he can do.

“He fits our style of play really well. He's obviously got height and presence and good movement in the box, but he's also really good at running on the last line, and that's quite unusual for a big striker to enjoy running behind and being on the last line as much as he does.

“So, he's a good profile for us in all aspects and, of course, it's a four or five-month loan at the moment, but he's a player we wanted to work with and he fits the bill really well.”

Regarding Broadhead, he added: “Nathan, of course, we're delighted to sign on a permanent deal. Again, he fits the profile that we're looking for really well.

“A talented young player who has a good pedigree of being at a big club, who has had some experience out on loan but hasn't yet accumulated a huge amount of games, which is probably why he's accessible to us and why we're able to get him here.

“He's someone who we wanted to offer a football home to. To be able to come and settle somewhere, hopefully in a good team, to find himself, to get a run of games, to build his career here, and if he does that with the attributes that he has, then he can certainly go on to good things in the game.

“So again, a good fit for us in terms of age and stage and his hunger to climb in his career. And also a really good fit for how we play.”

Are they ready to go straight in the team for Saturday’s huge game against Plymouth at Portman Road? “Both are going to have a part to play for sure. Of course, we have to weigh up a lot of things in terms of the squad and the team and the bench, as we always do.

“We'll weigh those things up with those boys as well and take all the factors into consideration and pick what we think is the best team for starting the game, and those boys will certainly be involved.”

Quizzed on whether he has a role in mind for Broadhead, who can play all across the frontline, McKenna was keeping his cards close to his chest.

“We’ve got a couple, to be honest, I won’t give them away too soon,” he said. “He’s a really versatile forward and I think in modern football that’s often the way and it’s a really good asset to have as a player.

“Of course, there are certain players like a George Hirst, who is always going to be a centre forward and will always be bracketed as a centre forward, but in the top teams, to play for top teams, having the ability to play anywhere across the front line and to play in different slots will give you much more options in your career, and also really make you more of a threat for the opposition because you have that unpredictability.

“For me, it’s more about the attributes that the players bring and George brings very different attributes to Nathan in terms of their qualities and what they can give to the team, and then it’s up to me and the staff to find the best ways to bring those attributes out in the players.”

Asked why, with Town the top scorers in the division, he wanted more forward players, McKenna said: “We lost Tyreece [John=Jules], who was a really important forward for us and is still a couple of months away [from a return from hamstring surgery]. That’s been a big loss for us over the last couple of months.

“Irrespective of where we’re at, we’re always going to need to fill those shoes. We wanted to add to our forward with different attributes than we have.

“We score a good amount of goals and we create statistically by far the most chances in the league, so we want to score a lot of goals and we want to score more as a team.

“And that’s not just the forwards, that’s the midfielders, the wingers, the wing-backs, the full-backs and the centre-halves on set plays.

“We want to score at a higher rate than we are at the moment, so having those options, quality and ability are going to be very important for us.”

McKenna says the pair have reinvigorated training this week: “It definitely has. I think that usually is the case when good players come in the door and the two that have arrived this week, with Massimo [Luongo] before that, are certainly good players.

“I think it’s given the group a real boost. I think the players here know that we need a really strong squad for what’s going to be a really challenging second half of the season and having more good players in the building will give us a better chance of achieving our end goal as a squad and everyone will benefit from that. It’s given everybody a real boost and it’s great to have them on board.”

McKenna recently said that other smaller clubs raise their game against Town, McKenna was asked whether the signings put a bigger target on the Blues’ back.

“I think that’s where we want to be,” he insisted. “We’d rather be the team at the top of the league that have a strong squad and are being well backed than the other way around, that’s for sure. And the players would rather be in a really good team and a really competitive squad.

“So we understand the psychology of it, we understand the expectations, they’ve been there from the start of the season anyway.

“So, of course, when you bring in good players that will only rise but we want to embrace that and continue to improve as a team and keep focusing on ourselves.”

Photos: ITFC

Bazza8564 added 15:55 - Jan 12 "it's a four or five-month loan at the moment" AT THE MOMENT! So it was well publicised that Blackburn's loan had an option to purchase, the Leicester contract was obviously to make sure they got their fee and he got his pay rise, so Im be very very surprised if we dont have that option, especially if we go up
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Len_Brennan added 16:38 - Jan 12 “We score a good amount of goals and we create statistically by far the most chances in the league, so we want to score a lot of goals and we want to score more as a team ... We want to score at a higher rate than we are at the moment, so having those options, quality and ability are going to be very important for us.” - That's the very point that a number of us have been making over the last few months. We can score against the sides who come to play us, because we are creating so many opportunities, but when the game is tight, we're looking for an opening & the opposition is playing defensively to frustrate us, we have to have a better return on the more limited amount of scoring chances that we have. Hopefully we have that now & we can turn a few more potential draws into wins. The other reason to bring in Hirst (in particular) as a center forward, was the problem we would have if Freddie Ladapo got injured & missed a couple of months. Thankfully that didn't happen pre-Christmas, as Ahadme has not been convincing & had picked up an injury himself to be fair.

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Suffolkboy added 19:06 - Jan 12 In KM and M A and co we can and should trust ! You can ‘listen' to KM on any aspect and know you'll get a clear thoughtful answer and a compelling enthusiasm for the task . ITFC is exceptionally blessed right now ,with the promise of quite the most exciting time for decades . COYB
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