Peter Grant moved quickly to snap up Jon Otsemobor before he was gazumped when the summer transfer window opened - and is enjoying the benefits of his new right back.

Peter Grant moved quickly to snap up Jon Otsemobor before he was gazumped when the summer transfer window opened - and is enjoying the benefits of his new right back.

“The one thing I wanted was to bring in people who are not frightened to go over the halfway line,” said Grant. “And he definitely brings that to us with electric pace.”

Grant alternated between Jurgen Colin and then Andy Hughes last season, but Colin was always a reluctant attacker, while Hughes was a midfielder playing in a non-specialist role.

Signed from Crewe, where his contract had expired, Otsemobor took all of two minutes of Tuesday's Carling Cup tie against Barnet to make his mark, haring down the right flank, taking a pass from Mark Fotheringham and then putting in a delivery which allowed Jamie Cureton to sweep the ball home.

“In the first seconds of the game he made a run,” said Grant. “And that excites people.

“I tried to get him here quickly, when we knew he was going to be available. I think he has got good quality with the ball, he uses the ball well - he has been schooled in the proper manner at a club like Liverpool and then Crewe, who want to pas the ball well.

“I always say to him that wide players want to keep you on your back foot, but it is more important he works them going in the opposite direction as well and he is doing that.

“He knows he has still to improve - he will get there, he will get better the more games he plays. Defensively he lets himself down in certain aspects, but you can say that about Roberto Carlos. You never get a player that is 100pc at everything and Jon has a hell of a lot of attributes and I am sure he can be a major success here if he listens and learns.”