JOE Adams has been told to expect a battle to get his opportunity with City.

Graham Alexander had to bide his time before eventually landing the versatile midfielder on a season-long loan from Wigan last week.

The highly-rated 20-year-old was not named in the squad for the Bromley game but will be pushing to be involved at Grimsby this weekend.

Alexander has been pleased to get him on board – but also issued a warning to the most recent window recruit.

“He’s got a fight on his hands when he’s fully fit and up to speed because the team is in good shape,” said the City boss.

“But Joe is aware of that. We like the profile of him and I think he’s going to enjoy himself here.

“We look at profiles of players and we want people who can handle the ball which we know he certainly can.

“He’s got legs on him where he can press, he can make runs in behind and he can play in two or three different positions.”

City have named the same team for the first three league outings but Alexander resisted the temptation to throw Adams straight on the bench at the weekend.

“It was a bit early,” he admitted.

“He trained with Wigan Monday through to Thursday last week and then he came to join us.

“Obviously, his first day here was Friday which is a match prep day so it’s difficult for a player to get up to speed.”

Adams, who played the second half of last season on loan at Morecambe, has been tracked by City throughout the window.

Alexander had hoped to sort a deal earlier in the summer but it was held up first by the 20-year-old’s form in Wigan’s pre-season friendlies and then a little niggle which saw him sit out training.

Alexander said: “He stayed with Wigan because of their lack of numbers at the time. He played for the first team and did really well.

“Then unfortunately he picked up a niggle and missed about three weeks of pre-season.

“He’ll pick up training time this week and we’ll assess him properly.

“The Bromley game came a bit too soon but we expect him to pick it up quickly. He’s naturally a fit boy so I don’t think it will be too long before he’s ready.”