Town have signed Sheffield Wednesday striker Shefki Kuqi on a three-month loan. Joe Royle has been after Kuqi for some while, enquiring about his availability last December and again in the summer.

Royle has been looking for more goals from his strike force and will hoe Kuqi can provide them. The Town boss told the club site: "We were interested in signing Shefki in the summer but Wednesday were looking for a big fee for him.

"That took us out of the equation but with Sheffield now looking to relieve their wage bill, they have agreed to a loan deal.

"We are delighted to land Shefki. He is a big, powerful striker that will give us some presence in the box and help relieve the pressure that we have on the squad with the injury problems we have."

The 26-year-old Kosovo-born Finn is a regular in his adopted nation's international side. He started his career in England with Stockport in 2001 having played for Jokerit and HJK Helsinki having moved to Finland as a 13-year-old. He joined the Owls for £1 million in January 2002.

The 6'2" striker is well-known to Town coach Willie Donachie who worked with him while he was at Hillsborough. So far this season Kuqi has scored five goals in eight games as well as receiving one red card.

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