CHARLTON manager Alan Pardew has issued loan signing Greg Halford with a blunt warning that he has plenty to prove following his arrival last week from Sunderland.

The 23-year-old defender, who can play anywhere across the back four, cost £2 million - a record for both clubs - when he left Colchester for Premier League Reading in January last year.

After a handful of appearances he made another big-money move to Sundertland, only to find himself on the fringe of the first team.

“He has a lot to to prove,” said Pardew stressed. “It didn’t work out for him at Reading and he went to Sunderland for even more money, and it didn’t work out there either.

“So he needs to be a success here and I believe he will become a massive asset for us.”

Charlton assistant manager Phil Parkinson, who helped develop Halford at Colchester, was influential in bringing him to The Valley.

Pardew added: “Phil believes he can get the best out of him, which didn’t happen at Reading.”

Halford could make his debut in Charlton’s South London derby against arch-rivals Crystal Palace at The Valley on Friday night.

But fellow loan signing Lee Cook, who joined from Fulham on Thursday, will not be available until the Watford home game on February 16 at the earliest.