DARIUS Henderson's arrival at the County Ground will inject extra competitive 'intensity' to the battle for striking slots according to manager Andy King.

The 23-year-old forward is likely to start against Bristol City at Ashton Gate today after agreeing a one month loan deal from Gillingham.

King hopes the deal will eventually become permanent, leaving three proven strikers to battle it out for two places, a scenario the manager felt was extremely important in contributing to last year's near miss.

The Town boss said: "I needed to brighten this place up. It has been on a downer. We need to start getting results and get our season back on line.

"When I try to analyse it, last year with Rory, Tommy and Sam we had an intensity between them for the two spaces available.

"I felt this summer, with Lloyd Opara still on a learning curve, that I didn't have the same challenge in what is a major position in any football team.

"I had to do something about it and I've done it. Now I've got three top strikers again.

"I think, and I hope, that the intensity I'm talking about will bring out more quality within the performances.

"What kept us going last year was that the competition was good.

"To me, we'd lost that edge, that internal competitiveness in the summer due to the small size of the squad and the injuries, I think this (bringing in Henderson) has brought it back a bit.

He said: "I've brought in Darius on a month's loan with a view to signing him on a permanent deal I hope.

"He's a young lad I liked a lot when he was at Reading.

"I tried to get him on a few occasions a couple of years ago before he moved on to Brighton and then Gillingham.

"Gillingham have five strikers and were prepared to let him out with a view to us taking him full-time.

"If he comes here and plays to the standard he's capable of then the board have to make a decision.

"But we're not talking about finances outside the structure of the club.

"The one worry I have is without doing a deal upfront is if he comes and performs wonderfully well they might change the figures. But that's for another day.

"Darius has a wonderful build, he's left-footed, good and controlled in the air and is strong and powerful, more of a target man than a runner."

Although King is delighted to have Henderson on board, he is not entirely satisfied.

He said: "I still feel I need another player to bolster the squad and keep people on their toes. In that sense the Tottenham situation is becoming more annoying.

"Leigh Mills played for their reserves the other night and they've still done nothing in return.

"I say quite openly that I think it's a no-go.

"I've made phone calls galore to them this week and had none of them returned."

King can at least take heart in a rapidly improving injury picture.

Andy Nicholas is back in contention while Matt Heywood is making progress after a knee operation.

King is looking forward to today's clash with relish.

He said: "What I'm looking for is to see that the spirit is back, there's determination and that we play with an energy and an enthusiasm that will allow us to show our quality and generate confidence."