There is early transfer speculation for Town this week with stories today linking two Scandinavians and a Frenchman with Town.

Reports suggest that George Burley has admitted his interest in crisis torn Crystal Palace striker Matt Svensson. The highly-rated Swede would cost just £500,000, a fraction of his true value as Palace are desperate to find cash by the end of the week.

The Town manager said: "I cannot deny that we have expressed an interest in Svensson, but he is only one of several players in that category.

"It is not always the case that clubs want to sell players. I have been talking to a couple of clubs recently. One of them has rejected an offer from us for one of their players, while the other is still considering whether they can afford to sell the player we want to buy.

"That's all I can say at the moment, but neither of these situations concerns Svensson. Trying to get players is ongoing and I have been working hard on it for a few months now.

"It is never easy to get players of quality. They have to be in our price range and their clubs must want to sell. We don't want to lose any of our players, so you can understand other clubs' reluctance."

Town are also linked with Søren Frederiksen, a Danish striker who has six international caps. He is coming for a trial with Town after Colin Suggett saw him play whilst on a trial spell with Leicester City.

The 27-year-old, who currently plays for Aalborg, is out of contract at the end of the season. The £700,000-rated player may play in the reserve game at Fulham on Wednesday.

Also coming on trial is French midfielder Patrice Maurel from Toulouse. The Town manager said of the 21-year old Frenchman and the Dane: "Søren will be with us for about a week, which will give us an opportunity to have a good look at him in training as well.

"It is through our connections in France that we have been alerted to Patrice and I understand he would be available on a free transfer."

The Shay Given story from last week was again featured in some of the tabloids yesterday. George Burley has already denied any truth in the story.

Richard Wright has won the Sky Sports Save of the Month Award for December. The save which won him the award came during the Stockport game from Tony Dinning's penalty and subsequent rebound.

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