JOSE Manuel Casado joined the ranks of free transfers at Wanderers yesterday – but Neil Lennon believes he’s snapped up a bargain.

The Whites boss had watched Casado play for Rayo Vallecano during his time at Celtic but was put-off a bid when he picked up a severe knee injury in September 2013.

He consequently signed for Almeria, playing regular football last season before leaving the club on their relegation from the top flight.

Lennon has been impressed by the 29-year-old defender and reckons he can compete with Dean Moxey for a place in his back four.

“He’s trained with us for 10 days or so and been excellent,” he told The Bolton News. “He looks a quality player and he’s shown a real appetite to come here.

“He’s smaller (than Dean Moxey), more squat, but he knows how to play the position very well. He has a great left foot and is a great passer. He will get forward and he knows the game – he’s 29 and been well-schooled. His professionalism has been impressive.

“We needed cover there, if anything happened to Dean, so now we’ve got some cover in both full-back slots.

“We are where we are financially – but there are some good free transfers out there.”

Lennon has been delighted with the defensive improvements his side have made this season but admits he’s eager to get things right at the opposite end of the pitch too.

Only QPR and Brentford have created more goalscoring opportunities than Wanderers this season but tellingly, only MK Dons have put fewer on target.

“If we’d taken our chances we’d probably be top six at the minute,” Lennon conceded, ahead of the derby against Blackburn Rovers.

“You can dress stats up any way you like – but it is the way we want to play.

“But at the end of the day, you just hope those goals will drop.

“We scored one at the end against Forest and thoroughly deserved it but again I’ve not been disappointed with the performances, just the first half against Middlesbrough.

“The spirit of the players is good, the players believe in what they are doing, and you just hope that the luck will start to swing our way.”