is bradley poised to

Although Barker has not revealed who the new arrival is until he actually signs today, the Reds have been linked heavily with Charlton Athletic’s Bradley Wright-Phillips.

The move comes as the Reds look to make up for lost ground with games in hand and to keep on track to reach the play-off places.

Barker has been frustrated lately with games being called off followed by a disappointing 2-1 defeat at lowly Scunthorpe on Saturday which exposed his squad as being in need of experience and star quality.

Wright-Phillips has represented England at under-20 level, and scored 22 times last season for the Addicks. A deadline day move to Swindon collapsed at the 11th hour.

Barker revealed yesterday: “I’m in the process of signing a striker tomorrow morning from a Championship club on loan until the end of the season.

“He has a decent record of scoring goals at the level he’s been playing at. Hopefully he will come to enjoy himself here and help us make progress towards the play-offs.

“It’s been a diffult time for the squad with a lot of new people in there.

“We are still aiming for the play-offs this season and with the matches coming thick and fast, including a lot of midweek games, we only need a good week to start climbing up the table.

“We need to stay within touching distance and a good week can help us massively.”

Barker said his own repuation for developing players has helped to secure players of this calibre.

He said: “He’s someone we’ve been aware of for a while and has come to the notice of our chief scout.

“His club has been extremely helpful and believes the environment we play in will help him develop.

“At Bury clubs used to ring us up and we had a good reputation when I was there.

“Hopefully I am bringing this repuatation to Crawley.”

Meanwhile, long-term absentee Kyle McFadzean is expeced to return to full training with the rest of the squad by the rest of the week in what barker described as a ‘Massive progression.’

He said: “When Kyle comes back it will not just be like having an new player in the team, but having a very good one.”

Billy Clarke, who has been playing in the striker’s role with new signing Jamie Proctor welcomed the arrival of a new player.

He said: “Every club want sto bring in better players and a loan player can make a difference - it’s up to the manager.”

“I’ve scored one in every two games so am fairly confident in my ability, so I don’t think a new striker is needed, maybe another area. It’s up to the manager.”