MANAGER Craig Laird hopes returning loanee Ollie Bassett can be a match-winner for the Magpies.

The Yeovil youngster re-joined the Avenue outfit today, on an initial one-month loan deal ahead of tomorrow's home clash with Merthyr Town (3pm).

Bassett, who made 16 appearances for the county town side under Mark Jermyn and Nick Crittenden earlier in the campaign, now re-unites with the club under new boss Laird, who is excited by the prospect of working with the Northern Ireland Under-19 international.

Speaking about the loan swoop, Laird said: “He is a good little player and helps strengthen our squad again, which is really important.

“We want to win games, I want to win things and be a successful manager and Ollie will help us do that.

“He is a lovely player from what I have seen of him, I might need to get some hard work from him the other way at times but that’s all part of his learning curve. He is a young lad learning the game.

“Defending is maybe something he needs to work on when he hasn’t got the ball but when he’s on the ball he is exciting. He is one of those players that gets you off your seat.

“Those types are great players to have in your side because they can win you games, which we need.”

He added: “Hopefully he will have a bright future in the game and we can keep helping him on his first steps.

“The most important thing for me is creating competition for places.”