Paul Cook 'delighted' to land 'lovely left-footed' Fulham defender and 'explosive' Blackburn Rovers winger

Araujo, 19, a left-sided centre-back from Fulham, and Blackburn Rovers winger Dilan Markanday, 22, have both joined on season-long loans.

The pair boost the squad after a number of injuries suffered in recent weeks and they could make their debuts against Crewe at Gresty Road on Saturday.

Cook told the DT: “I am absolutely delighted. Through pre-season we have had a kick-up or two, especially with injuries. It has imbalanced the squad a little bit. Both lads bring qualities, we are absolutely delighted I have got to say.”

Speaking specifically about Araujo, Cook continued: "Harvey brings so many qualities. It is his first loan and we have got to respect that. Fulham have been outstanding to deal with, absolutely outstanding. From minute one it was always about the player’s development, both with Harvey and Devan (Tanton). He will bring a lovely calmness to the team, he has got a lovely left foot, very good athletically, and he wants to improve. Our job is to hopefully send him back to Fulham one day with that experience and hopefully make him a little better, better person, better anything to help the situation for Fulham.”

Markanday arrived with 35 appearances in total for Rovers, including 21 in the Championship last season, and Cook spoke in glowing terms about his attributes.

He explained: "With Dilan, I feel we get an exciting player in the building. I love flair players. I do think as the season goes on, squad depth is so important. We have lost Liam Mandeville (ankle) so that is going to hurt us but we will have Liam back soon. We are adding Dilan to Michael Jacobs and Armando Dobra in those positions, so we are delighted. I think his CV is there for all of us to see. I think probably a little bit of frustration might have grown in himself towards Blackburn possibly where young lads want to play. Dilan has come from the Championship where he has had good experience, good games. We want to get him a lot of the ball and we want him to be as explosively positive for us and give us that bit og penetration that we lack at times in the present.”