St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson has said he is impressed with the qualities displayed by new signing Viv Solomon-Otabor, who could debut on Saturday.
The 25-year-old has been without a club since leaving Wigan Athletic in the summer and has now joined Efe Ambrose at the Scottish club.
But, with his short-term Saints deal running out in January, Davidson doesn’t have the luxury of taking his time to get the Nigeria star up to full match fitness.
“The lads saw in training today the quality that he’s got,” he said. “They were impressed – it’s a good sign when that happens.
“I need competition to keep players sharp.
“He can play across the front three and will give me good options.
“He can go past players and is exciting.
“He looks fit and strong but it’s different playing matches. It will be an accelerated process to get him involved.
“He’s fit enough to be in the squad for Saturday (against Hibs).
“The quicker I can introduce him to the pace and tempo of Scottish football the better so we can build up his match sharpness.
“We’ll see what happens in January but it was important that we got someone in quickly.”
Solomon-Otabor, who started out with Birmingham City and had a season with CSKA Sofia, was recently on trials at Cardiff City.