Royle in bid to beat deadline

ATHLETIC have only hours to complete a deadline day transfer swoop for a striker before the five o’clock cut-off point.

Manager Joe Royle has so far drawn blanks in his moves for a goalscorer his team desperately needs.

He said: “I have made lots of inquiries for players and am still waiting for one or two people to get back to me.

“It is going to be hard to bring in the sort of player I want, but not completely impossible.”
Royle is looking for added firepower, saying his team has hardly looked like scoring in the two games since he returned.

While Royle strives to bring in a striker, another front player has left as Dean Windass is back at Hull City after his half-season loan ended prematurely and on a sour note.

After talks with Hull officials, the 39-year-old striker has been recalled by the Tigers.

Windass had made no secret of the fact he was unhappy when he lost his place after scoring only once in his first nine appearances for Athletic.

He went public to say he would never return, only to later retract what he had said.

But it is understood the final straw came when Windass told Athletic’s management he did not want to be involved in the squad for the League One game at Milton Keynes Dons.

Though Windass cannot play first-team football for Hull in the remainder of the season, he has been given permission to play for the reserves for whom he scored on Tuesday night against Bolton Wanderers.

Royle hinted that his team to play at Leyton Orient on Saturday is likely to resemble the one which finished at Cheltenham on Tuesday.

That would mean substitutes Danny Whitaker, Lewis Alessandra and Fabio Ferriera being in the frame for starting spots.

Stefan Stam and Ian Westlake, both ineligible in midweek, will also be back in the reckoning.

CHELTENHAM boss Martin Allen has made five players available for loan in a bid to cut the wage bill with the Robins on the brink of relegation to League Two. Shane Duff, Alan Wright, Josh Low, John Finnigan and Paul Connor have all been told they can leave the club.