WARRINGTON Town boss Paul Carden has hailed the impact of new signings Jamie McDonald, James Barrigan and Evan Gumbs after they recorded back-to-back wins.
Tranmere centre-half Gumbs, 20, returned to the club on loan and made his second debut in the 5-1 win over Lancaster on Tuesday night.
He starred alongside James McCarten for large parts of last season and Carden was delighted to have hm back.
Carden said: “It was a no brainer. He’s great. You can play him anywhere and you know what you’re going to get from him.
“He’s strong, he’s a good footballer, he’s good in the air, he’s mobile, he can tackle. For me, if we go higher in the leagues, he’ll be someone you’d be desperate to sign.
“I scratch my head and wonder why Tranmere don’t want him around, but I’m not bothered. We’ve got him here, hopefully for a long time, and you know he’s going to perform like he did because he knows no different.”
Barrigan, at the club on loan from Wigan, bagged his first goal for the club against Lancaster and is at Cantilever Park as part of a blossoming relationship with the Latics.
But while many players have come from higher levels to play for the Yellows in recent seasons, it is the capture of McDonald from City of Liverpool, currently playing two levels below, that has raised some eyebrows.
The centre-forward made his debut in the 2-1 win at Rushall, and followed that up with a goal on his home debut on Tuesday night.
Carden said: “We’ve made a couple of changes. I felt like it was the right thing to do. We were looking a bit stale with Tony Gray being missing, Josh (Hine) coming back from injury and Connor being out.
“I felt we needed to add a little bit more energy and pace, and I think the lads we’ve brought in add that in abundance.
“The more they play together and the more the other players get used to them, I think they’re going to cause all sorts of problems. One thing about the young hungry lads is that they never stop, you might have to encourage them but what they have got is energy, hunger, pace and desire.
“I’m really happy and the sooner we can get Tony back and add it, we’ll be really strong up there.”
