Manager Roy Keane says Tamás Priskin will benefit from “a change of scenery”, having joined QPR on loan until the end of the season. Keane says he made his decision to make more changes to his squad after Saturday’s performance at Preston North End.
The Town boss says Priskin’s switch helped finance the loan recruitment of David Healy and Daryl Murphy: "We decided to let Priskin go last Sunday evening when we knew there was an option for him to go to QPR. We were trying to balance the books to bring the two lads in and it was a decision we had to make.
"Having said that, I still think the lad is a talented player but maybe he just needs a change of scenery.”
Keane was looking for even more signings before the transfer window closed on Monday and became annoyed by one or two other managers: "We were still hoping to get one or two in, but it’s been quite frustrating over the last few weeks because we made a lot of enquiries about players and the feedback was that there are no deals to be had and these players weren’t going anywhere and then a few days later these same players were at other clubs.
"That can be frustrating. But luckily for me, I’m Irish, I’ve got a good memory.”
The Town manager confirmed that it’s defensive areas he will now be looking to cover with loanees when the ‘emergency window’ opens next week: "I still think we’re probably short, there was an option for Alex to go to Leicester and Alex has taken that and maybe it’s one or two defensive positions that we maybe need to look at.”
Keane says Bruce and Priskin leaving the club on loan doesn’t mean that their days as Town players are over: "They’re both under contract. Just as it’s a gamble when you bring players into the club, it’s a tough one letting them go because we might need them. The fact that they have gone window to window means that we can’t call them back, but they were the deals on the table.
"Ultimately we put it to the players and they wanted to take the opportunity to go and get some games.
"Damien and Gareth have done reasonably well and Alex felt he needed a run of games at Leicester and he will get that and come back a better player. He’s still learning his trade.”
Keane was particularly unhappy with last weekend’s display at Preston: "Last Saturday was a disappointment. I’d given a lot of the players the benefit of the doubt and stuck by them. But last Saturday was probably the worst performance in two or three months and defensively the two goals we gave away were shocking.
"I’ve said there are other parts of the team that we can improve on, but we were given the opportunity for two strikers and we’ve taken it.
"I knew they were available a week or two before but I was weighing up my options and we decided to make change last Saturday on the way home.”
Meanwhile, new signing David Healy has written about his switch to the Blues in his column in the Belfast Telegraph.