RUFC - Mullen gives his view on the latest loanees

Rotherham United Assistant Manager, Jimmy Mullen was asked about the new loan signings, Will Atkinson from Hull City and Paul Downing from West Bromwich Albion.

'They both trained Friday and Monday,` Mullen told MillersPlayer yesterday, 'and they both look very adequate and both looked comfortable.

'Obviously, because of the weather, Monday was more a fitness side of things rather than football and they`ll settle in as the week progresses. They are both good lads and nice lads to have around the place.`

Asked about Manager, Ronnie Moore saying that Downing had really been brought in as cover, Jimmy said, 'We needed to strengthen our squad and felt that we needed someone extra on that left hand side of the field. And, with the problem with got with injuries at the moment we felt that we needed a little bit of cover in the centre-back position. So, to be fair to West Brom, they obviously wanted someone to go out and get some first team experience but when we explained where we were coming from, they were OK about it and quite happy about it as long as Paul was training with our first team.

'As far as Will goes we`ll just have to wait and see. His record at this level is good because he had nearly a full season with Rochdale and did very, very well for them. So, from his point of view, he`s probably more the likely of the two to start.

'There`s no substitute for competition for places because it keeps everybody on their toes and they all know that if they don`t play as well as they should be playing then we have somebody waiting in the wings to take their place.`

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