Will Hoskins really make a difference?

I'd like to say I was really excited about signing Will Hoskins on loan, but I'm not. I don't think he'll make a scrap of difference to our away form, because Deadwood isn't suddenly going to become a tactical genius overnight is he?

Hoskins does come with quite a good reputation, although it is built on a three-year spell at Rotherham, where he scored 23 goals in 73 appearances. He even bagged a move to the Premiership when Watford were convinced enough to shell out £1.2 million for his services. But he failed to make his mark there, only making ten appearances all together and not managing to hit the target once. He did start scoring when he went out to Millwall on loan, however, so it seems that the Premiership was just a step too far for him and he is most at home in the lower leagues.

Hoskins is only 21, and a former England youth international, so even if his career has stalled somewhat, he is still very young and still has plenty of potential. What's more, he is Nottingham-born – yes, another one! He used to be on Notts County's books, and apparently also had a brief spell with Forest.

If he does well, Forest have the option of signing him permanently for a fee of £500,000. Whether a permanent deal will go ahead only if Forest manage to get promoted to the Championship, is unclear, but if his goals do finally get us back into the second tier, he will be worth his weight in gold.

Bringing Hoskins to the City Ground is a start, I suppose, but we still need more players, as our squad is still looking painfully small at the moment. But even if we had the biggest and best squad in League One, Deadwood still wouldn't know what to do with them, which is why I am refusing to build my hopes up over Hoskins being our saviour.