DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE manager John Still was delighted with the impact new signing Darren Currie had in his debut at Bournemouth on Tuesday night. Currie, who turns 35 on Sunday, joined on loan from Chesterfield on Monday, but is expected to sign an 18-mon

by MIKE SIMMONDS

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE manager John Still was delighted with the impact new signing Darren Currie had in his debut at Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

Currie, who turns 35 on Sunday, joined on loan from Chesterfield on Monday, but is expected to sign an 18-month deal in January and links up with Daggers boss John Still for the second time in his career, after the duo were at Barnet in 2001.

Since then, Currie, who is the nephew of former England footballer Tony Currie, has made more than 500 appearances in spells at the likes of Wycombe, Brighton, Ipswich, Coventry, Derby and Luton, before moving to Saltergate in July, 2008.

Delighted

"I'm delighted to bring in Darren Currie, I've had him before, he can play on the left or the right and adds great balance to the squad," said Still.

"He has also taken a massive wage cut to be here, but he wants to come to the club and wants to play for me again.

"Also, I want him to help teach the likes of Danny Green, who can learn a great deal from a player like him.

"Danny could have a great career in the game as he has a real talent, but he is still young and it's important he learns from experienced players."

The signing of Currie means that Daggers now have four loan players on their books, as he joins Matt Lockwood, Nana Ofori-Twumasi and Adam Miller at Victoria Road.

Although Still has readily admitted in the past that he is not a fan of the loan system, instead preferring to blood young players from non-league circles, he insisted that with injuries to key players, and the sales of Scott Griffiths and Solomon Taiwo, he was left with no alternative.

Experienced

"I read somewhere that people are saying that bringing in experienced players on loan is a change in direction for us now, but that is not the case," said the Daggers manager, whose side entertain Aldershot on Tuesday night.

"We had to act when Scott and Taiwo went and as we are in the loan window, it meant we couldn't bring in anyone permanently.

"I would liked to have given young players like the Billy Bingham's, Graeme Montgomery's and Tommy Tejan-Sie's more of an opportunity, but at this level, sometimes you just can't do that.

"We needed to bring people in who could hit the ground running and the likes of Matt Lockwood and Adam Miller have done that.

"Darren Currie is a permanent move for us, and I will be talking to Adam about something similar over the next few days.

"When the window opens in January, then I will be looking at bringing in at least one more non-league player."

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