I’M DELIGHTED to welcome Alex Bruce and Jon Parkin to the club and sincerely hope they have very productive spells with us.

Alex (inset) knows the place well, of course, from when his dad was manager here, while Jon is looking to cement the next stage of his career and believes he can do it with us.

Both players are proven at the higher level and I’m certain they will fit in well here with the ambition for what we want to achieve.

I have played against big Jon quite a few times and I have always thought he was a real handful.

He has done well everywhere he’s played because, while he is big and strong and a real physical presence, he’s got great feet and terrific control.

People who don’t appreciate his qualities have always criticised Jon for not being mobile enough, but I think that’s unfair and he’s got lots of strings to his bow.

Most of all, he scores goals, and I think he will slot ideally into the boots left empty by Alan Lee’s ban.

Jordan Rhodes, Lee Novak and our other lads will enjoy working off Jon and I have no doubt he will do us a really good job.

Alan Lee has done a fantastic job this season in leading the attack and taking a lot of the physical load off the shoulders for the two lads who are in double figures already.

He has done a great deal of valuable work and it was no surprise to be that having lost a big man due to what I believe is a very harsh ban, the gaffer moved to bring in another big forward.

Jon has been playing this season while on loan at Doncaster, having lost his place in the new manager’s thinking at Cardiff, and I know he will be determined to show exactly what he can do.