Nathan Eccleston is settling in at Rochdale after joining the club today on a month long loan deal. The 20 year old striker is no stranger to League One football and is looking forward to his time at Dale.
He told Dale official website: "I'm pleased to be here. I know some of the players already. I know Steve (Eyre) from his time at Manchester City and I know this coaching ways. I've come here to get games and play competitive football. I'm happy to be here and hopefully I'll make an impact."
Eccleston made his first team debut for Liverpool in October 2009, coming on as a sub against Arsenal in the Carling Cup. He then went on to make his Premier League debut the same month before going out on loan in the January to Huddersfield Town. Getting first team football appeared to do him the world of good and he was given his chance at the games top level. He made an appearance from the bench in the third round qualifying of the Champions League in July 2010, and Roy Hodgson gave him his first start for the club against FC Utrecht in the Europa League group match in December 2010.
Eccleston went on to make seven appearances for Liverpool last season before heading out in his second loan period, this time to Charlton Athletic. He appeared 21 times for Charlton, bagging three goals.
With that type of experience under his belt already, Dale manager Steve Eyre is delighted to have him on board: "There's a pedigree about him for such a young man. I've known him for many many years and I've been involved some titanic battles during my time at Manchester City against Liverpool. In the main what we use to do was try and keep him quiet. I know Liverpool's aim was to try and keep David Ball quiet. And now we've had two of those same players playing for us in the last month.
"I think it shows a development structure for him (Eccleston) from Liverpool's point of view and gives a signal of what we are trying to achieve here. I think they recognise we're a growing club. The development of the coaching is an extension of what he does at Liverpool, working with senior players and it's a chance for him to play league one like he did with Huddersfield and Charlton."
And Eccleston himself is relishing the chance to play at Rochdale and is looking forward to getting back to playing competitive football. "At Liverpool this season they've signed a lot of new players" he explained. "There's a few players that haven't been involved so far this season and they've gone out on loan so I think it's about time that I got out and started playing competitive games.
"I think no matter how old you are as a footballer you can always learn and I think this will be good for my development, if I can use Rochdale as a spring board to push on and further my career whether it be here or elsewhere it will be beneficial to me in the long run."