THE signing of Paddy Kenny was confirmed on a short-term deal by Wanderers yesterday – but Dougie Freedman insists he is not merely a stop-gap.

The former Sheffield United, Leeds United and Bury keeper has answered Freedman’s call after Adam Bogdan was ruled out for at least two months with a serious fracture of his finger.

Andy Lonergan’s form should see him keep the gloves for today’s visit to Wolves – but Freedman has urged Kenny to push his current number one as hard as he can for a place in the team.

“With Paddy’s experience and character, the remit I’ve given him is that he needs to come in, get himself conditioned because he’s missed a few weeks of training, and I need him challenging for the number one jersey,” he said.

“It’s down to him. I’m sure he’ll train hard to make sure he gets an opportunity.”

Kenny’s arrival mirrors a difficult time in Lonergan’s career at Leeds, when he was usurped as number one soon after Neil Warnock’s arrival at Elland Road.

That paved the way for his move to Wanderers just over two years ago but Freedman praised the former Preston North End keeper for reacting the right way after news of Kenny’s impending arrival was announced in The Bolton News last weekend.

“To be fair to Lonners he’s stood up and proved he’s ready for a fight as well, which is nice to see,” he said.

“I think he’s had his best two consecutive games since I’ve been here. He’d had great performances but maybe hadn’t put them back to back – but against Leeds and Rotherham he made some great saves, looked commanding at the back and his distribution has been great.”