Former Town loan keeper Paul Gerrard has admitted that he will probably have to make a move to get first team football. Everton keeper Gerrard spent a month with the Blues late last year and would have stayed longer but for a knee injury.

The 30-year-old is behind ex-Blue Richard Wright in the pecking order at Goodison Park and is not hopeful of usurping him: "To be truthful, I think Richard is the automatic choice, so maybe it's the time to start looking elsewhere, but we'll see what happens.

"I've got another year left on my contract after this season. All I can do is train hard and see what happens."

Gerrard got back to action for the Everton second string in a 4-1 win against Manchester United last week and was pleased to be back playing: “It was good to get through it and get a game under my belt. It was a bit sore whenever I kicked the ball, but apart from that, it was OK.

“I've spoken to the physio, who has advised me to rest and not to push myself. It's just a case of taking things easy. It'll be a couple of weeks before it's completely back to normal again.

“I've got to give myself every chance to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

“The injury couldn't have happened at a worse time. It was going well at Ipswich. I was going to sign for another month, but you can't tell when these are going to happen. You just have to deal with it.”

The news that Gerrard is looking for a move away from Goodison Park could be of interest to Joe Royle who has said he could bring in loanees at the end of the transfer window.

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