Town have signed West Ham keeper Stephen Henderson on loan. The Blues are expected to confirm the deal on Tuesday but we understand that the Irishman has been at the club today.

Henderson was one of the trio of Portsmouth players the Blues targeted in January prior to his switch to Upton Park. Despite lengthy negotiations, the Blues were unable to agree a deal for any of the three.

In March he joined the Hammers on a temporary loan with a view to a permanent deal in the summer when he signed a three-year contract. However, since then he has made only two starts in the Capital One Cup.

Republic of Ireland U21 international keeper Henderson had joined Pompey from Bristol City in the summer of 2011 having failed to usurp ex-England international David James at Ashton Gate.

Henderson, who stands 6ft 4in tall, had previously spent time on loan at York, Weymouth, Aldershot and Yeovil, and the Glovers’ Player of the Year award in 2010/11.

The Dubliner comes from a goalkeeping dynasty. Grandfather Paddy played for Shamrock Rovers in the 1960s, his father, also named Stephen, played, managed and coached at various sides in the League of Ireland.

His uncle Dave also played in the League of Ireland, for amongst others Shamrock Rovers, and another uncle, Wayne, currently plays for Preston and the Republic of Ireland.

Scott Loach and Arran Lee-Barrett are the club's current senior keepers with the former Watford man widely criticised for his performance in the recent 2-1 home defeat to Cardiff City.

Town, who signed free agent Nigel Reo-Coker on a three-month short-term deal on Saturday, already have Massimo Luongo, Daryl Murphy, Guirane N'Daw, Danny Higginbotham, DJ Campbell, Bilel Mohsni and Richie Wellens on loan.

Clubs are permitted to name five domestic loan players in a matchday squad with Henderson the sixth. Murphy (Celtic) and N'Daw (St Etienne) don't count to this total with their parent clubs from 'foreign' associations.

Photo: Action Images

Garv added 11:27 - Oct 15 Sigh. Unnecessary.
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Gumpot12 added 11:29 - Oct 15 need a keeper but another loan.. cant we find a keper on a free and keep him here for a few years?
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Blue_Dwarf added 11:30 - Oct 15 This is mental. One bad game ONE bad game and Loach gets booted out. THIS IS THE FINAL STRAW for me... JEWELL AND ITFC no longer hold any respect from me
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NoCanariesAllowed added 11:32 - Oct 15 Not sure we need this - Lee-Barrett is decent enough and it's not like we have any injury problems at present. Makes me wonder whether Loach is set to be dropped after the Cardiff display. Time will tell, I suppose. But I can imagine I'd speak for the majority of fans if I said we'd have been happier with a defender instead.
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stainless added 11:36 - Oct 15 We need a new keeper badly, Loach isn't good enough for championship football and neither is Lee-Barrett. Loach's poor form was highlighted against Cardiff but anyone who has seen him every game this season will tell you the same thing, he isn't good enough to be a number 1 keeper for a team that wants to challenge for the play-offs.
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Pabs added 11:37 - Oct 15 Another completely pointless signing. I can only think it could be to push Loach and doesn't rate ALB. In my view ALB is a decent backup keeper and apart from 1 bad game Loach hasn't done much else wrong.
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itfc94 added 11:39 - Oct 15 This is ridiculous, I logged on this morning and thought the website had a malfunction and was posting articles from January. I said after Cardiff that is it for Jewell, give the new manager the int. break to work the team. I feel Jewell is signing 'great' players, but for the wrong sorts of reasons. Get rid of him, he has one game, if we lose thats it. HE HAS TO GO.
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StuartBrett8 added 11:39 - Oct 15 It's a good idea to have 3 keepers? Look how many spurs have
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IpsRich added 11:41 - Oct 15 FAO stainless - were you at Barnsley? I thought Loach was one of the key factors of us picking up an underserved and unlikely point. Regardless of Loach's form, another pointless short-term signing on loan when we already have personnel to cover the position. I'd rather we fight relegation with our own players than someone else's. If Jewell gets into problems his default response is to sign some players. Why not try and train them harder and better during the week?

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TR11BLU added 11:43 - Oct 15 This is beyond the ridiculous now, PJ replacing his signings and loan players with more loans...all average quality too. I watched Henderson when we beat Pompey down their place in Feb and he was awful that night. Jewell out now before the next wave of average loanees arrive. Come on Marcus, push the button.
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levington added 11:44 - Oct 15 Paul has reverted to type. He signs loads of players as he loses his grasp on reality. He is psychologically flawed. He's on a loop, It's Derby all over again. We don't need more players we need one manager and a coach.
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Freelancer added 11:46 - Oct 15 Ridiculous idea... Not only is it unnecessary, it will do nothing for Loach's confidence when he is eventually brought back into the team. Of course he had a bad game against Cardiff however he is surely regarded as one of our 'steadiest' players.
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itfc1981 added 11:50 - Oct 15
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Blue_Armee added 11:54 - Oct 15 THIS IS A JOKE..........Loach is Blue through & through and he is being dropped for someone who we weren't good enough to sign for when he had the chance. Ok Loach made a couple of mistakes but he will now have his confidence knocked when this idiot goes back to West Ham and he returns to the team. Oh yes we could call on ALB but no Jewell has already treated him poorly and doesn't rate him either. JEWELL IS A JOKE GET HIM OUT NOW

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alliedaz added 11:57 - Oct 15 paul jewell you said you would not panic but or bring in people on loan as it puts a team out of shape when they go back,what are you doping?.its a complete joke at portman rd,you havent got a clue at the moment and for saying we are on a tight budget,time has run out for you and most fans have lost faith and when we look back over the last 5 years this club is has lost fans and passion and just upsetting for people who turn up and watch a team in crisis

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wrighty_blue97 added 11:58 - Oct 15 This is getting ridiculous now loach is a class keeper and he hasn't even reached his peak yet one stupid mistake and look at what happens, lets face it henderson isn't exactly going to expect to be second choice here is he? and for me loach is a better keeper and where does this leave ALB? hope jewell knows what he is doing. COYB.
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RimmersBrace added 12:00 - Oct 15 Thank God the ITFC management have realised that Loach is not up to the job. A mistake to sign him really, but at least they are doing something about it. Hopefully this guy is good and it will lead to a permanent move.
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Blue_Dwarf added 12:09 - Oct 15 RimmersBrace you either work for ITFC or you have you head deep in a beach somewhere
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harby1 added 12:10 - Oct 15 Good move! Loach was cheap and in that i suppose was worth taking a chance with but anybody that has watched him this season will tell you he's just not good enough commanding his box and coming off his line! I hate when people say but he's a good shot stopper.....thats what he's supposed to do! For me he has cost us more goals than just Cardiff this season already! Henderson is a more experienced and better goal keeper! Obviously would prefer him on a permanante but he will improve the team and ultimately thats all i really care about!

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Blue_Dwarf added 12:13 - Oct 15 You obviously didnt go to Fratton Park last season harby1... ALB was streets ahead of Henderson.... "more experienced" 24 years old mmmm
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Whymarktonomarks added 12:20 - Oct 15 I don't think that the quality of player is at question with these signings , but the wisdom and the reasoning behind them is deffo baffling . These lads are replacing Jewel's signing's , there is no Keane scenario to fall back on anymore . Whichever side of the fence you sit on you cannot hide the fact that PJ seems to struggle on hiring the appropiate staff ,and employing personnel who wasn't interested a few months ago cannot be the way to fight you out of trouble .

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stinkiusminkius added 12:21 - Oct 15 Personally I don't rate Loach and him being a Town fan doesn't stop him being an average keeper. Not sure Henderson is much better though and this just seems another clutch at a straw by PJ, who appears to have pretty much lost things recently. I personally would've been happy if last summer saw us bring in quality in 1 GK, 1RB and 2CBs and not cared about any other position, but PJ seems to have gone midfield mad, loanee mad, and not really know what he's doing. I was all for supporting him as there were signs of better football and signs of hope but now I feel he's lost the plot. Time for change.

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FenboyBlue added 12:24 - Oct 15 How many loans did Norwich have that season they went down to League 1 ? All the previous seasons under ME where we've flirted with relegation early on, I've been optimistic that we'll claw ourselves out. And we did. This time I'm finally worried our time is up.
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village_blue added 12:27 - Oct 15 Why oh why are we bothering to try and sign somebody who when he had the chance to sign for us for us a permant deal turned us down.Up until the Cardiff match I said that Loach was a shot stopper and nothing else but now I can't even say that, any crosses or anything hung over his head and he's hopeless and distribution is awful.Time for Malcolm Webster to start earning his money if we are to continue with Loach.

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village_blue added 12:27 - Oct 15 Why oh why are we bothering to try and sign somebody who when he had the chance to sign for us for us a permant deal turned us down.Up until the Cardiff match I said that Loach was a shot stopper and nothing else but now I can't even say that, any crosses or anything hung over his head and he's hopeless and distribution is awful.Time for Malcolm Webster to start earning his money if we are to continue with Loach.

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