Boro boss believes trialist has promise

GRAHAM Westley says Terry Dixon has ‘an enormous amount of talent’ after the former West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur striker made his Stevenage debut on Saturday.

The 20-year-old has been training with Stevenage for more than a month and came on for Ben May with 10 minutes remaining in the goalless draw with MK Dons in the FA Cup on Saturday, and Westley is hoping the Republic of Ireland youth international can continue to impress as he makes his way back from a dislocated knee he sustained at Upton Park last season.

“Terry’s a player who had a lot of promise,” Westley said after Saturday’s match.

“He’s had a couple of very bad injuries and he’s been training with us and has been trying to overcome those very serious injuries and he’s got a massive [amount of] talent.

“If we can get him fit then there’s every chance that he can make a big contribution for us.

“We’ll see how it goes forward. He’s been with us for a while now, I think he’s enjoying himself, he’s gradually shedding the pounds and starting to look a little bit fitter.

“He’s done enough with the reserves and on the training ground to be involved for 10 minutes today and we’ll see how he continues to impress.”

Boro drew a blank with MK Dons on Saturday – the third time the club has failed to register a goal in the last four matches – but Westley was pleased with the effort shown by his players and said striker Ben May was ‘terrific’ to get through 80 minutes in only his second start following a back operation in the summer.

“We’re keeping clean sheets which is a positive, but they’ll obviously be pleased to come here and keep a clean sheet too,” added Westley.

“In an attacking sense we obviously lost Chris Holroyd (prevented from playing by parent club Brighton), and when you make a change up front the side is going to have to acclimatise and Ben May did terrifically well to get through 80 minutes of the game in only his second game after the comeback.

“He’s going to get fitter and stronger with every week and every game he starts and the side will get familiar with his play. [Holroyd] has been an attacking threat since he came in and he’s a constant menace, a constant danger.

“You’re going to take injuries, and for all sorts of reasons you’re going to lose players – you get a suspension here, an injury there – but we never cry about it but I think it’s a factor in our attacking game.

“We’re used to playing with Chris up there and Ben’s a different type of player and the team has obviously got to adjust to become familiar with that.”