Gillingham v Tranmere Rovers

GILLINGHAM boss Ronnie Jepson is hoping Justin Cochrane, his third loan signing in the past fortnight, will prove as successful as his previous two.

Crewe Alexandra’s Cochrane has followed in the footsteps of Crystal Palace’s Tommy Black, who scored his first goal for the club on Saturday, and Irish under-21 striker Gary Mulligan.

Cochrane, 23, penned a one-month deal on Thursday and is known as a tough tackling midfielder with a knack of playing killer passes to set up chances for the forwards.

He will go straight into the squad ahead of Saturday’s Coca-Cola League 1 clash with Tranmere Rovers as Jepson will be without suspended midfielders Michael Flynn and Alan Pouton, plus defender Ian Cox.

Jepson believes that bringing in new faces provides his squad with an immediate boost. He stressed: "It’s healthy to have competition for places or you can go stale. That’s true in any walk of life."

Looking ahead to Saturday's game, Jepson said: "Tranmere are a good side and are in a false position in the table (10th) if you look at the players they have.

"Our home form had a dip against Rotherham. We were poor and were lucky to have got a point, but teams now come to us and play tighter than they perhaps used to.

"We are not the finished article as a side but we are making improvements slowly and steadily."