Striker Jon Stead’s loan move to Coventry is back on and is expected to go through later this afternoon. The 26-year-old was understood to have rejected the switch last week, but Coventry came back in for the former Sheffield United man early this morning and Stead is currently at the Ricoh Arena to sign on the dotted line.

The move can only be for a maximum 93 days which would take the former England U21 international to end of the season proper but not the play-off final if the Sky Blues are involved.

Earlier today, manager Roy Keane expected Stead to be in his squad for Tuesday’s game at Peterborough having been at training on Sunday, but Coventry boss Chris Coleman subsequently made another move for the striker.

Keane confirmed reports that Stead’s wife is currently pregnant but didn’t think that would have a bearing on the move: “I wouldn’t have thought so, not if it’s a loan deal, but you’ll have to ask Steady that. I’m aware she’s pregnant.

“I don’t know if that comes into a player’s mindset, I know it wouldn’t come into mine, but some players are different.”

According to a report, the clubs have agreed a £500,000 fee for the deal to be made permanent in the summer. Stead, who joined the Blues from Sheffield United for £600,000 in August 2008, is contracted to Town until June 2011.

Meanwhile, Keane refused to comment on reports that he had made a move for Cardiff City left-back Mark Kennedy: “We make enquires for lots of players and we get different feedback and I wouldn’t comment on certain individuals, certainly not.”

The Blues boss says there has been no progress on bringing in any further loan additions: “It’s been very, very quiet. As I’ve said, with the number of players we have, if I really can’t get in a player that I think will improve us, then I won’t be doing any business.

“But that changes on a day-to-day basis. Overall, in terms of the numbers we have, I’m fairly pleased.”

Connor Wickham and Lee Martin are both over their injuries and will come into contention for Tuesday’s squad.

Photo: Action Images

dirtydingusmagee added 13:35 - Feb 15 Good luck to you,and yours Jon , hoped you would be staying on ,but there .
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StowTractorBoy added 13:40 - Feb 15 Yes we need a left foot but not that of Kennedy who is way past his best and not I would have thought a Roy Keane type player. We need some pace down the left and although Kennedy can be tricky he does not fit the bill. I still say Michael Gray of Sheff Wed has been the best left sided player we have seen at Portman Road this season but no doubt Mr Irvine will want to keep him. I'd rather go with what we have than bring in a journeyman - all about opinions but thats mine.

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cbower added 13:47 - Feb 15 I thought the initial price we paid for Stead was £600,000 and that figure had some add-ons rising to £1 million plus. Am I right or have I just made this up? If I am, £500,000 is not great business methinks. Anyway, good luck to the lad - he seems to want first team football and is prepared to go out and get it (unlike some - mentioning no names.............Pablo!)
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bluechick added 13:54 - Feb 15 What a great deal by Roy,bring in Healey & move out your only decent striker. But wickhams fit now so thats ok, a 16 year old who isn't up to this league. Jogging along nicely just above the relegation places & he decides to let Stead go. Will not be happy at all if we don't do better than Jims 10th place at the end of the season. Thank god he's only got one more season.

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ThatMuhrenCross added 13:56 - Feb 15 Shame about that. He is one of my favourite players at the club. I can only hope that the move is not made permanent.
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streety86 added 14:00 - Feb 15 Would we have accepted the bid before his banned when he was scoring goals? I think not
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ITFCNO1FAN added 14:02 - Feb 15 Totally agree with you BlueChick here ....i think keanes business sense isn't too great you don't see other clubs getting rid of their top joint goal scorer, rather see Wickham go on loan at league 3 club and gain experience but then again he hasn't actually signed full time yet. Just keep fingers crossed that for once Keane business pays off.
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tom_the_blue added 14:05 - Feb 15 We cant loan at Wickham as he isn't old enough and hasn't signed a deal. Dissapointed to see him go, but I suppose that perhaps he isn't needed and at least he'll be back to play for us in the play-offs :D
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MaySixth added 14:11 - Feb 15 Why Roy why???
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PimsNumber1 added 14:17 - Feb 15 we may well have lost another 600k on this. I think we paid 600 rising to 1.2 so dont know how much of 1.2 he stands us in . Lisbie was 600k and thats written off. Colchester getting him back for almost free because my guess is they dont even pay all his wages. then we have 1.3 edwards and 1.5 martin and 1.7 priskin to get shot of at a loss , please .( Im not pleased about the loss , but they arnt good enough ) oh and add pabs to that list . could of got 400k off the swans for him. Seems we sell at the bottom and pay well over the top for like for like or worse players ! 5

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over_head_kick added 14:17 - Feb 15 what the hell is going on . roy.
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Surco72 added 14:25 - Feb 15 Absolute joke of a decision if we hadnt wasted so much money on Martin,Healy,Priskin,Edwards perhaps we could have afforded his wages and got a left sided player on loan . Last week i said how good it was to have the likes of Stead and Healy on bench showed our depth and now we are back to a 16 year old kid again
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Surco72 added 14:29 - Feb 15 Also if we have no one lined up to come in why the hell are we weaking ourselves in an area we have struggled all season ?
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PlymptonBlue added 14:41 - Feb 15 So Stead's mrs is pregnant and due in a few weeks. You can see who wears the trousers in the Keane household judging by his comment: ''I'm aware she's pregnant. I don't know if that comes into a player's mindset, I know it wouldn't come into mine, but some players are different'' !!
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itfc1981 added 14:45 - Feb 15 what a load of ballshine! give Steady a chance and he takes it, the other planks at the club cant
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dirtydingusmagee added 15:08 - Feb 15 Can see us going into a gunfight,and finding we are unarmed.Just hope Murphy can keep goals coming . [off thread i know ,but Dazzer's free kick last night ! a cracker , we could have done with him here still ].
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Nevadablue added 15:16 - Feb 15 This is just unreal. What if we get an injury crisis among our strikers? Probably good for Steady - look how well our strikers perform when they leave these days. But not good at all for a club to offload its leading goalscorer while hovering above the relegation zone by the skin of its teeth. I'll concede tjis much Roy, you're as brave a manager as you were a player. We just have to hope and pray it doesn't end in embarassment.

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Markie31 added 15:18 - Feb 15 This could be a mistake.......think Jordan Rhodes :(
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peakyboy added 15:26 - Feb 15 good bye and dont come back :)
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DodgyKeeper added 15:27 - Feb 15 Wrong move, should stay, as others have said, he can score goals for us.
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buryblue77 added 15:32 - Feb 15 It's not the same as Rhodes leaving, we'll never know (unless Huddersfield get promoted or they sell him to a Championship team) if he could have cut it at this level or not. Stead is hardly prolific, but seemed to be a good sub, a lot of his good performances and goals have come from his sub appearances. I don't quite understand it though, I think he's a good option as all we have now is Pablo, who's never going to get loads of goals, Wickham who's not ready yet and Walters who's proven on several occasions he's not a striker. So if injury occurs to either of or main strike pairing (who aren't our players anyway) I'm not sure where the goals will come from. I just hope we're all jumping the gun on this one and that Keane has another striker lined up to come in, although would obviously only be on loan and who would it be? It's one thing talking about buying the likes of Chopra, Beckford etc who are the calibre of players we need, but their clubs are not going to allow them out on loan.

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dirtydingusmagee added 15:52 - Feb 15 I agree buryblue77
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Blueknight85 added 15:53 - Feb 15 nice fee if its true, for a striker with a poor scoring record and only a year left a deal well done considering he would only be a bench player here. Good luck for the future Jon thanks for your service to us if you do leave permanently.
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jas0999 added 16:04 - Feb 15 Interesting that earlier in the season people were on here slating Stead! Now as Roy loans him out, people moan! From reading some of these post you would have thought Stead had been prolific for us. He has not. 6 goals this season - not exactly 16. That said, I can't fault his effort - shame about his control, heading ability. Bottom line is that M Evans is running a business. Whether we agree with his signings or not is irrelevant - we have bought players in and thus need to balance th books, otherwise it's simply not sustainable. I am not saying I don't like Stead, but this was the offer on the table. It's all well and good people saying Pablo should have gone - and in an ideal world I would agree BUT as far as we know there have been no recent offers for him. Clearly Roy is chasing a couple of other players and in doing so has to off-load elsewhere. Best of luck Jon - I hope it works out for you.

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Surco72 added 16:05 - Feb 15 Stead has a better scoring record than anyone we have at the club over his career ,and wouldnt have thought he would be on the bench very long as Keane changes his front pairing every game ,but good luck anyway Jon
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