Boro’ had to move fast to secure the services of stopper Jökull Andrésson as the January 2023 transfer window came to a close. The Icelandic lad came to us on loan from Reading; arriving on the same day when another loanee – Taye Ashby-Hammond – sustained a training ground injury that’d keep him out for some weeks. And the arrival of Andrésson was all the more unusual (perhaps) by the fact he saw action for Exeter City three days before deadline day; sent down to Devon on a seven-day emergency loan deal. Phew – some mileage that week…

Andrésson signed for Boro’ until the conclusion of the 2022-3 campaign. And it’s fair to say that Ashby-Hammond left a pair of big boots to fill with some impressive displays that put us in a strong position going into the final four months.

Jökull Andrésson: Before Boro’

We didn’t make a typo on Andrésson’s former clubs – honest! When we said he’d been on loan at Exeter City just days before he arrived here, we weren’t wrong. But it’s also true the Icelandic stopper was down at St James’ Park for what was his third loan spell there. It’s equally true that after both of his first two stints with the Grecians, he then ended up with Morecambe on loan. So, you could say that we broke the chain by signing him. And we apologise rather emptily if the Shrimps were hoping to get him in for a third time too.

Before that little run started, Andrésson’s first real taste of senior football came at Hungerford Town. He found himself there on loan not long after turning pro at Reading. The stopper also made his senior Iceland debut in 2022.