Matt Penney is an attacking left back who has signed for Charlton on loan from Ipswich until the end of the season.

He came through the Sheffield Wednesday Academy and made his debut as a twenty year old in The Championship  after brief loan spells with Bradford and Mansfield . He made 16 appearances for The Owls in the 2018/19 season before going out on loan again to St Pauli of Hamburg (17 appearances) in The Bundesliga for the 2019/20 season. He returned for the following season at Wednesday but only made 12 appearances and he left for Ipswich at the expiry of his contract.

He played 22 times for Ipswich last season, including at left wing back in our 0-4 defeat at Portman Road last May, but he spent the first half of this season on loan at Motherwell in the SPL. He was a regular in their team and played for them right up until their home draw with Ross County on 14th January.

Dean Holden commented:

"I liked that he has spent time on loan at St Pauli in the second tier in Germany. St Pauli are a proper club with a loud and passionate fanbase. Going there, outside of his comfort zone, he'll have played in pressurised environments, which will be valuable experience for his time with us. I've spoken since I joined about using January to give our squad more balance and signing a naturally left-footed full-back, of Matt’s quality, was extremely important."

We don't know whether Matt would have joined us if Todd Kane hadn't been injured on his debut but, for those traditionalists among us who have deplored the absence of a left-footed left back since the departure of Ben Purrington, his signing looks to be very good news.