SAM Allardyce celebrated the first leg of what he hopes will soon become a transfer treble today when he secured the services of Sunderland attacker Carsten Fredgaard.

The 24-year-old Dane, who has been training with Wanderers for the past fortnight, has signed on a month's loan and is expected to go straight into the squad for tomorrow's game at Norwich.

"He's fast, exciting and can play either wide left or up front," the manager said.

Allardyce had feared he might miss out on Fredgaard, who has failed to establish himself in the first team since joining the Wearsiders in a £1.8 million transfer from Lyngby in March 1999 but has recently been strongly linked with a return to Denmark. Nicknamed "Lightning" in his Lyngby days, Fredgaard has been the subject of approaches from Brondby and Aalborg.

But the Wanderers' boss, who recently failed in similar approaches for Nicky Summerbee and Paul Butler, was finally successful with his third attempt to do business with Peter Reid.

Allardyce, who is hoping to make further additions to his squad before the end of the month, is currently working on a deal that could bring Strabourg's £400,000-rated Cameroon international defender Pierre Njanka to the Reebok. And, even if that is successful, he is unlikely to end it there.

Fredgaard's arrival, albeit only for a month at this stage, at least offers Wanderers short-term cover for Dean Holdsworth, who returned as substitute against Barnsley after a six-match lay-off with a groin injury but picked up an unrelated injury which has ruled him out of the Carrow Road game.

Ian Marshall, who has missed three games - also with a groin problem - returns to the squad.

Ricardo Gardner, returning from Jamaica's 2-0 World Cup qualifying defeat in El Salvador yesterday, is expected to rendezvous with the rest of the Wanderers' squad at a hotel in East Anglia this afternoon.

"He'll have travelled through the night," Allardyce explained, "so hopefully he can get a good rest and be okay for tomorrow. We'll have to wait and see."

Kevin Nolan, who scored in an impressive performance in England U-18s 3-2 victory over Belgium at Bradford last night, emerged unscathed and joined the squad when they left for Norwich this morning.