Dunfermline Athletic are set to sign Malachi Fagan-Walcott on loan from Cardiff City.
The former Spurs defender is understood to have travelled north to complete the formalities of his move from the English Championship club.
The 21-year-old, who spent a short spell on loan at Dundee, is expected to go straight into the Pars team to face Airdrie this weekend as manager James McPake copes with a defensive crisis.
The Fifers boss has been desperately seeking reinforcements after being hit with a worsening injury list.
Skipper Kyle Benedictus, Rhys Breen and Aaron Comrie are all sidelined for a minimum of the next four weeks.
And Sam Fisher is still recovering from the concussion – his second in the space of a fortnight – and facial wounds he sustained in the Fife derby defeat to Raith Rovers.
McPake has now turned to a well-known face, having also signed Fagan-Walcott on loan for Dundee in January 2021.
The former England youth internationalist made two appearances for the Dark Blues but his loan was cut short due to injury.
James McPake vows to ‘work on others’
A hamstring problem resulted in him returning to Spurs, where he had made his debut in a Champions League round of 16 loss to RB Leipzig in March 2020.
It is expected the agreement will be finalised on Friday, with Fagan-Walcott due to train with his new team-mates ahead of Saturday’s match.
There is the outside chance a second fresh face could also arrive in time for the game.
McPake said: “We’ll hopefully have one in for the weekend.
“One should get us through Saturday! And then we’ll work on others.
“But we should definitely have one in our squad for Saturday.
“It will be a loan deal and it’s one we were looking at for this summer as well.
“I know it looks like there’s still no signings in, and stuff like that.
‘Improve the DAFC squad’
“But hopefully this one will be the first one.
“We’ve had good conversations with the board in Germany and with David (Cook, CEO). David’s working all hours as well, we’re all doing that.
“The aim’s still the same, we need to improve the squad.
“We’re looking to get this one in and then looking to see what more we can do.”
Amidst a nightmare season of repeated injury blows, Dunfermline are set to miss seven first-choice players for this weekend and beyond.
As well as the defensive quartet already mentioned, the Pars also have Alex Jakubiak, Matty Todd and Kane Ritchie-Hosler currently unavailable.
However, there has at least been some good news for McPake on the injury front this week.
Lewis McCann has been sidelined since pulling up with a hamstring problem in the 1-1 draw with Arbroath on December 23.
And Ewan Otoo also sat out the meetings with Ayr United and Queen’s Park in recent weeks as he battles a minor injury.
Return of McCann and Otoo ‘massive bonus’ for the Pars
However, barring any late setbacks, both will be in the squad to face Airdrie.
McPake added: “The two that missed out on Friday, who are now available for us, are Lewis McCann and Ewan Otoo.
“That’s a massive bonus for us. If you asked any Dunfermline fan to pick their team, those two would be in it.
“They’ve trained well. Ewan was close on Friday and it was a last-minute call to not risk him.
“They’ll come back into the squad.”
