Full-back Janoi Donacien’s move to Fleetwood Town on loan for the rest of the season has been confirmed.
The 27-year-old was made available by Town having been unable to break into the League One XI this season and had been interesting a number of clubs.
Plymouth had a £50,000 offer rebuffed last week, while Donacien’s former club Accrington Stanley, where he also spent a loan spell during 2018/19, and Wigan were also keen.
Donacien is looking forward to getting into action with the Cod Army.
"I was ready to come up here and play," he told Fleetwood's official website. "I spoke to the manager and speaking to him made me want to come here, it helped me with my decision so much.
"I got a really good vibe from [caretaker-manager] Simon [Wiles], the way he wants to play, and where he sees the club going forward and that was it for me.
"Every day is a learning experience, but I have loved it here so far, starting with the talk I had with the manager yesterday, everyone has been really welcoming to me. I know Sam [Finley], I was at Accrington with Sam, so that helps.
"I love playing football, I’ll play wherever the manager will want to play me, I’ve always said this. I’m happy to play anywhere but I am a right-back at the end of the day so that is where I want to be playing.”
He added: "I’m a solid right-back, so defensively, we are going to try and keep a lot more clean sheets and I will do everything I can to try for the team.
"We want to be more secure, that was in the squad meeting this morning and I want to be up and down, attacking and defending. I want to get better at creating chances from where I am.
"With me coming in, I hope I can do well at this place, play as many games as I can. I feel like I’ve been in that mode for a while now, when I was at Accrington, I just wanted to play games and get myself out there just to show what I could do.
"You need to stay strong because football is as much mental as it is physical, so you just have to keep pushing for yourself really — I’ll go until I am running into the ground.”
The St Lucia-born full-back or centre-half’s only three games for the Blues this season have come cup competitions.
The former Aston Villa youngster’s Town contract is up in the summer, although the Blues have an option for a further season.
Paul Hurst brought Donacien to Portman Road in the summer of 2018 for £750,000 from Stanley - initially on loan while his permanent leave to remain was confirmed - and the defender was regular during the current Grimsby manager’s time at Portman Road. However, he has rarely featured since Paul Lambert, his boss at Villa, took charge at Town.
In total, Donacien has made 30 starts and two sub appearances in his two and a half years with the Blues without scoring.
Skipper Luke Chambers is currently playing at right-back with Kane Vincent-Young still on his way back from injury, while Luke Woolfenden, Gwion Edwards and Cole Skuse, also currently sidelined with injury, all have experience of playing there.
Assistant manager Stuart Taylor talked about Donacien's impending exit at this morning's press conference.