JOE Mason is back at Wanderers after sealing a third loan switch yesterday and manager Dougie Freedman is delighted to have him on board again.

The Whites boss has had a frustrating summer in search of attacking reinforcements, missing out on Lukas Jutkiewicz, who signed for Burnley from Middlesbrough after a successful loan spell with Wanderers last season.

But Mason, who enjoyed a fruitful period alongside Jutkiewicz at the back end of last season, was also high on the manager’s list of targets and patience has finally paid off with the 23-year-old again moving north from Cardiff City.

Freedman is still in the hunt for more additions before the transfer window closes on September 1 but is more than happy to have secured Mason’s return for starters, though he may miss out against Bury in tonight’s Capital One Cup clash at the Macron Stadium with international clearance needed to rubber-stamp the paperwork on his season-long loan.

The manager told The Bolton News: “Joe was here last season and did very well for us.

“He was someone I was desperate to get back and Cardiff have been very good with us in letting us have him.

“We have been patient to try and get Joe and we have a real good young player there.

“It suits him to come here and get games and it suits us to give him those games.

“He is a huge talent.

“Where we are right now as a football club, we are not in a position to go out and get players who have been there and done it.

“We want to get good young players in, hopefully buying them, and see the potential in them.

“Joe has that. He has showed glimpses of what he’s got.

“His style suits our style and I am really pleased to get that over the line.”

Mason has joined the Whites on loan, like fellow Bluebird Kevin McNaughton, and it could be any further additions are also brought in on a temporary basis.

Freedman has previously stressed his desire to use the loan market more sparingly but admits some deals have to be done that way in the current financial climate at the Macron Stadium.

And it will not deter him in his search for those two more targets he wants to add to his front line in the next few weeks.

The Scot added: “In an ideal world you would rather sign the Joe Masons of this world and the Kevin McNaughtons.

“But it is difficult for us so the second-best option is to get them in on loan.

“I have seen over my short career managers who pick up players who come available just for the sake of it but I don’t like to do that.

“I would rather go for a player who I feel can help the team.

“We have a couple in mind and hopefully we can get them.

“Will we buy them? If the price is right I will go to the board. If not we will try for a loan and that is the way it has to work right now.

“I don’t want to hide that fact. I want to be up front and honest with the fans with what we are trying to do.

“I am still looking. I need two more attacking players because in the Championship when the games come thick and fast you have to have a squad with enough players to pick from that can win you games.”