Coventry City’s new loan signing Cedric Roussel will be thrown in at the Premiership deep end against Newcastle United at Highfield Road on Saturday.

The 21 year old Belgian could hardly contain his excitement at the thought.

He said:

"It is a dream. Ever since I was a small boy I wanted to play football in England.

"Now my chance has come. The manager has told me I will start the match against Newcastle. I can hardly believe I will be playing against Alan Shearer.

It is a dream come true."

Coventry have been forced to take emergency measures to prop up their forward line after the news that strikers Noel Whelan and John Aloisi face lengthy lay offs through injury.

It leaves only 19 year old Robbie Keane as a frontline attacker. Coventry’s manager Gordon Strachan has been forced to play his Moroccan midfielder Moustapha Hadji out of position alongside Keane, a situation he has described as: "Not ideal."

Now his Euroscout Ray Clarke has come to the rescue by recommending Roussel as an answer.

The player is 6ft 2in tall and is good in the air. He says:

"I like to play with my back to goal and to deflect the ball to other players. It is good for me to play with a smaller man."

That man will be Robbie Keane on Saturday and Roussel says:

"I heard in Belgium about him scoring twice in his first match for Coventry. I hope I can impress the supporters when I play."

Roussel scored 13 goals in 30 games for his Belgian club AA Gent and 10 in 13 games for the Belgian national under-21 team.