Town manager Joe Royle says he is still hopeful of bringing in a defender on a season-long loan. Royle revealed he was close to tying up a deal for a defender with a Premiership club after the Crystal Palace friendly, but the move subsequently stalled.

The Town boss has refused to either confirm or deny that, as TWTD reported at the time, young Arsenal full-back or centre-half Justin Hoyte was the player he was targeting, but says he still wants a defensive loan signing: "It's not something that's dead. I said it too soon, because it was going to happen that week and it hasn't happened for reasons beyond our control.

"But certainly a season-long loan is not out of the question for us, although it's not necessarily the same player we targeted."

We understand that the complication with the proposed Hoyte deal was Arsenal's need to get in a right-back as cover for first-choice Lauren.

A move for Ajax's Hatem Trabelsi fell through due to the Tunisian failing a medical and the Gunners' search for a replacement has so far been unsuccessful.

Royle also says that the signing of Canadian youngster Jaime Peters could be some way off. Town have made their interest in the 17-year-old right-winger clear but the former Kaiserslautern player still has other pre-arranged trials to attend, including one at Manchester United.

Town's interest in Peters and fellow Canadian Cameron Wilson is being pursued by the the Blues' Academy.

Peters is now back in Canada having completed a two-day trial with Derby County. The winger will join up with Jason De Vos for his first ever senior international call-up over the weekend.

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