HARRY Kewell believes new signings George Blackwood and Andrea Badan will provide the right competition within his side this season.

The Latics boss took his tally of summer signings to 13 this week with his two new additions as he continues to rebuild his squad for the coming season.

Blackwood, 23, joins up with his fellow countryman having been released from Australian A-League side Adelaide United this summer and Kewell believes that he can be a real asset for his side this season.

“For George, it’ll be a great experience for him, he’s excited and it’s an opportunity,” said the 41-year-old.

“I still watch a lot of the A-League, it’s a tough league that I’ve experienced myself so one thing that you will get from those players is the work ethic.

“They will go through that brick wall for you and George is no different.”

Italian full-back Badan joins having most recently played on loan for Serie C side Cavese, and comes in to provide competition for fellow defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson.

And although he admits that it will take time for such a large number of new signings to gel, Kewell stressed the importance of having a plethora of options throughout the campaign.

“Every day in training, he (Badan) is working hard, he’s technically very good and non-stop, so he’ll put pressure on Cameron to perform week in, week out,” added the Latics boss.

“Ideally, as a manager, you always want two quality players in every position who if one player is not performing, the other can step in there and take his chance.

“Every signing you make you hope that it balances the team but it takes time for players to gel.

“This is a new team, it’s very early on in the season and you can’t judge a book by its cover straight away it takes time.

“Bringing in quality players like Andrea and George into the fold puts pressure on the other players because they know that they’ve got to step up to perform otherwise there will be someone ready to take their position.”

Kewell also revealed that the club are still looking at bringing in a number of potential new signings, with just under a month to go until the window closes on October 5.

“There are a couple of people that we are looking at,” he said.

“The window is obviously open for about another month and there is still room to add.”