TOWN boss Mark Cooper believes new signing Amari’i Bell offers something different to his squad’s make-up from a defensive aspect.

Bell came in at the end of last week on loan from Birmingham City and made a steady debut at left wing-back in Town’s 3-0 over Barnsley at the weekend.

He had endured a game time-less loan spell at Mansfield in August and hadn’t played competitively since his time at Kidderminster Harriers at the end of last season.

Cooper said of Bell: “Amari’i is with us until January. That’s a decent amount of time for us to have good look at him and get some games under his belt and I’m sure that will do him some good.

“He can play centre back, left-back and left-wing-back.

“He’s come into a team that’s playing well. They have to get used to him, he has to get used to them.

“He gave us added security defensively on the left-hand side, especially with balls coming in the box because he’s got that natural defender side about him. I thought he gave us a little more defensively.”

Cooper has recently highlighted the need for the Birmingham man’s positional rival, Brad Smith, to improve his work defensively and indicated that Bell’s defensive ability offers him tactical alternatives when required.

Asked whether the loanee allowed him more opportunity to pick sides based on the needs of the situation, he said: “I think that’s what the squad is all about.

“Some games are suited to some players and some aren’t.

“That’s what we’ve done all season, I’ve said that from the start that we’ll try and pick a team for the opponents and the game we’re playing.”

One player who does appear to be far away from Cooper’s tactical planning is Ryan Harley.

The midfielder is currently training with Exeter but the prospect of him moving back to the Grecians is unlikely, due the Devon club’s budget constraints.

Cooper remained tight-lipped on Harley’s status, but asked why he was training on the south coast, he said: “That’s because he wants to train at Exeter.”

When pressed on whether that made a move back for Harley back to his former club more likely, Cooper responded: “No, I just know that he has gone to train with Exeter for a couple of weeks.”