Dean Cox signing is a '˜great coup for the club', says Hillians boss Chapman

Cox signed on a three month loan deal from Crawley Town today (Thursday).

The midfielder signed for Crawley last week after he was released by Leyton Orient, but is unable to play until January 2 because he was signed outside the transfer window.

But Cox was only able to sign for clubs below National League level and he contacted his former Brighton coach Chapman to see if he could play at the Green Elephants Stadium.

Chapman told the Mid Sussex Times: “I have worked with Dean when I was a coach at Brighton. He got in contact with me the other day and said he needed some football and we are delighted he thought of us.

“He won’t play for us for three or four weeks. He’s got to do some training and get himself fitter.

“Probably from middle of next month up until Christmas, if he plays five, six or seven times for the club it will be great for the club.”

And Chapman is hoping having a professional football opf Cox’s quality around the club will have a positive effect on all aspects of the club.

He said: “If we can help by giving him some minutes and we could do with having some of his quality about the place and if that can rub off on some of the young lads that will be great.

“It’s a real nice coup for the club and we are obviously delighted to have him.”

But when we spoke to the manager, the rest of team were unaware of the news.

He said: “I am sure they will get a buzz from the news. His record speaks for itself.

“We have some good young talent around the club and iof they can see how he conducts himself on and off the pitch he will be a real positive influence on them.”

Cox will continue to train with Crawley and Chapman is expecting to see Cox at Burgess Hill in the middle of October.

He said: “We only really have one training session with midweek games so hopefully he will do the odd session with us.

“He knows a few of the lads anyway. He’s played with Tucky and he knows Russell Bromage (coach) from his days at the Albion.

“We will play it by ear as we move on and he won’t play every game for us while he’s here because he’ll be training but if we can get him playing in six or seven games over a period of time, what a great coup for the club.”

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