Berry will be a 'slow burner' - Dodds

James Berry had a short spell at Hull City, where he made one Championship appearance

Wycombe Wanderers head coach Mike Dodds says January signing James Berry will be a "slow burner" and the club will need to be patient over the winger's development.

The 24-year-old was one of 15 new players brought in during the last transfer window as the Chairboys freshened up their squad for their League One promotion push.

Berry arrived after scoring 10 goals in 28 games for League Two Chesterfield but did not make his Wycombe debut until coming on as a late substitute in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Peterborough.

"I thought James could add a little bit of quality and I don't think we needed four defenders on the pitch for the last 10-15 minutes," Dodds said.

"I'm happy to get him on the pitch."

Dodds has kept Wycombe in the hunt for automatic promotion to the Championship next season by losing only one of his six league games in charge since replacing Matt Bloomfield in early February.

With runaway leaders Birmingham City 11 points clear, Wycombe are fighting it out with Wrexham for the second automatic place.

They play the Dragons on Saturday, with the Chairboys ahead of them only on goal difference.

Dodds says he knows it will be tricky trying to narrow down his options over the remaining 11 games when it comes to selecting his best side.

"We've got a massive squad and I've got a huge selection headache in leaving players out the squad, and the team, that I know would probably get into most teams at this level," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"It was always going to be one of my biggest challenges to balance that - I have to be really selective over which games I feel these players can have an impact."

But he is sure Berry will play an important role.

"James is a really good signing for this club, I'm really looking forward to working with him," Dodds said,

"He's going to be a slow burner and is someone who is going to get better over time and is probably going to need a little bit of patience around his development and his integration into what will be hopefully a really bright future here."