THE words must have been music to Colin Todd's ears.

"I enjoy getting myself into wide positions, taking people on and getting the ball into the box."

So said one-time England international John Salako as the Reebok boss ended his season-long search for the wide player he believes can be Wanderers' passport to Premiership safety.

In fact it's been smiles all round for the past 24 hours.

Todd has finally got his winger while Salako has the comfort of feeling wanted, having been surplus to requirements for the last two months at Coventry.

"I've predominantly been a wide player in my career," he explains, "but recently the manager (Gordon Strachan) took a tactical decision of playing with a narrow middle four, which meant no place for me.

"Tactically we didn't see eye to eye and I realised there was nothing down for me there.

"But, as one door closes, another opens and it's nice to come here and feel wanted. It's great to see his enthusiasm and his determination to get me here then to hear him talk about the way he wants to play the game.

"He's speaking my language and I can't wait to get out there on the pitch and see how I can help Dean (Holdsworth) and Nathan (Blake)."

Blake, of course, is suspended for tomorrow's Reebok date with Leicester but Holdsworth, who has been starved of quality service since his arrival in October, is likely to be the striker to profit most from Salako's arrival.

Having completed his Premiership jigsaw with the arrival of Bob Taylor as well as Gaetano Giallanza, Todd believes Wanderers have the wherewithall to win the relegation battle. It remains a tall order with just nine games to go but Salako believes success sometimes comes down to an attitude of mind. "We've got nine cup finals to play," he summed up.

"Every game is going to have a great atmosphere, especially here at the Reebok. In the position we are in now, it's no good looking back. We've got to look forward to the challenge. Four or five wins would put us in with a shout. Beyond that and we'd have a great chance of staying up."

Salako draws on his recent experience with Coventry to illustrate how quickly things can change in the Premiership.

The Sky Blues were destined for the drop at Christmas but turned the corner with an incredible run of results - including a staggering 5-1 triumph at the Reebok - to reach mid-table safety.

"We'd lost six out of seven when we went into the Manchester United game at home on December 28," he recalls. "And when we were 2-1 down with 10 minutes to go I remember turning to Liam Daish and saying 'If we lose this we've got big problems'.

"Then Darren Huckerby got the penalty, which Dion (Dublin) scored to equalise, then Darren got that wonder goal and that was it. We went to Liverpool in the cup and won there, drew with Arsenal and, although we lost at Chelsea, we were flying.

"That United game was the turning point. Since then the two boys up front have been on fire.

"I believe we can turn it round here in a similar way and get those four or five results that can take the pressure off a bit in the last few games.

"You've just got to believe in yourselves. I know people have been disappointed here after the euphoria of last season but there is still a long way to go and nobody should be thinking the worst until it's mathematically impossible."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.