JACK Shepherd is ready to get going straight away after his delayed arrival in City’s pre-season.

The Barnsley centre half is expected to play some part in tomorrow’s final friendly at Altrincham.

His season-long loan deal took a while to get over the line but Graham Alexander has no worries on the fitness front with the latest recruit.

“I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he told me he’d played 90 minutes the day before,” he said.

“I couldn’t believe it because we’d only been in for two weeks or so.

“He played another 90 minutes last week against Real Mallorca so he’s up and running.

“That’s great because he’s probably at the same level (of fitness) – maybe even ahead of some of the lads with match minutes.

“We’ll assess him but I’m sure he’ll play a part at the weekend.”

Shepherd joined Barnsley last summer from non-league Pontefract Collieries and quit his job as a kitchen fitter to turn pro.

Alexander believes he is getting a hungry addition to the squad.

“He’s been out on loan last season and we’ve watched his performances. I’ve spoken to a few people about his character.

“I spoke to him last week and he was so keen for this challenge.

“He was renegotiating a contract at his end which went on and on. The deal has been there a while.

“We hoped to get him in before Austria but that wasn’t going to be the case.

“He’s a young player that’s got all the attributes we like to see. I think he’s hungry to do well.

“He can handle the ball, he can head the ball, he can run – all the things we expect to see in all our players, to be honest. We want them to be able to tick a lot of boxes.

“He understands the challenge and the competition he will face here.

Jack Shepherd joined Barnsley last summer from non-league footballJack Shepherd joined Barnsley last summer from non-league football (Image: PA)

“I never lie to a player about them being guaranteed to play week in, week out. That’s no matter who it is, a loan or permanent signing.

“But he still wanted the challenge, so that gives me great confidence that he comes in here with the right mentality.”

Shepherd’s arrival offers direct competition for Ciaran Kelly – as well as allowing the Irishman to play more centrally when needed.

Alexander added: “Obviously Ciaran plays on the left of the back three and we’ve been playing Lewis Richards there in pre-season.

“We like the thought of Lewis being able to play up one and back one.

“I think we need competition for the back three and Jack can play in the middle or left, which frees us up to Ciaran playing both as well.

“We do want to have a natural balance. We don’t just want to be reliant on one player.”