FOUR years ago, Ian Craney had a desk job, sorting out orders for Littlewoods catalogue. He played football part-time.

Now he is preparing for a League One derby after meeting his new team-mates for his first training session with Swansea City today, ahead of Sunday's derby at home to Bristol City.

The Accrington Stanley midfielder completed a loan deal with the Welsh side in a whirlwind 48 hours.

And while Craney admits the Reds tried hard to keep him, the 24-year-old confessed the lure of League One football was too tempting to turn down.

"It's a big club and one that really should be in the Championship, looking at the facilities and everything," he said.

"Hopefully I can play a part in helping to achieve that.

"It's like a dream come true.

"As soon as I saw the ground and the set-up my mind was made up.

"Being the type of person I am, it did go through my mind what would happen to Accrington if I left now, especially with the run we've had in the league.

"But with the squad they've got there's not chance they will get sucked into a relegation battle.

"There are too many good players there and the manager knows what he has to do."

He added: "I love everything to do with Accrington.

"It's been a great experience for me.

"John (Coleman) and Jimmy (Bell) know how much I respect them, and the chairman.

"They tried their best to keep me but you can't rest on your laurels or you could end up going stale."

Stanley boss Coleman has revealed how the club's hands were tied because of a clause worked into the former Altrincham captain's contract.

"The blunt truth of it is that when Ian signed his contract in the summer, a condition that he and his agent decided on was that he had an escape clause if a team from a higher league came in and met certain conditions," he said.

"If we hadn't agreed on those conditions then we would've lost him in the summer.

"We had to go on what was agreed in his contract and Swansea have met those conditions.

"Swansea are a big club but if that clause wasn't in place then we would have rejected all offers flat.

"I'm upset about it, the chairman's upset about it and Jimmy's upset about it, but you can react to that by either lying down and thinking that it's the end of the world or you realise that he's just another cog in a very special football team.

"This football club will be going long after Ian Craney, myself and Jimmy Bell.

"It's our job now to concentrate on the players here."

And Coleman, armed with a quartet of new faces after Cardiff City duo Joe Jacobson and Curtis McDonald signed on loan, along with Liverpool's David Mannix and Crewe's Adam Dugdale, will be eager to end a run of four league defeats at struggling Grimsby Town tomorrow.

"Every win we achieve now is going to be vital, especially against teams down below you," he said.