Town boss Jim Magilton has revealed that he watched Hibernian central defender Rob Jones in action in their 3-2 victory over Celtic on Sunday. Hibees skipper Jones, 27-years-old and 6ft 7in tall, is very much in the mould of the type of defender the Blues manager has been targeting in recent weeks.
Magilton was impressed with Jones's performance and compares him to current skipper Jason De Vos: "We all know what a player and what a strong character Jason is, and Rob has the same credentials.
"Hibernian are not short of money and have no reason to sell, so it remains to be seen whether they will be interested in selling the defender.
"We had heard a lot about him and I went to see what all the fuss was about and we will certainly be looking at him again.”
Jones started his career with non-league Gateshead and was working as a PE teacher before moving on to Stockport County for £5,000 in 2003, a spell which saw him spend time on loan at Macclesfield.
In July 2004 a free move to Grimsby followed, during which time Jones made 64 starts and four sub appearances, netting five goals.
Former Town skipper and coach Tony Mowbray was clearly impressed by Jones's spell with the Mariners and in June 2006 he brought him to Easter Road for an undisclosed fee, the Stockton-born player signing a four-year deal.
Jones was made skipper at Hibs in January and lifted the Scottish League Cup after his side defeated Kilmarnock in the final in March, the central defender notching the opening goal. Jones has made 54 starts and has scored eight goals since moving to the SPL side.
Town would not be able to bring in Jones until January, there being no emergency transfer provision between English and Scottish clubs, assuming Hibs are willing to sell him and the Blues can match their price.
Magilton has been looking for a central defender for some while with the move for ex-Málaga man César Navas breaking down at the last minute.
Since then, the Blues have failed to bring in a young, versatile Premiership defender on loan — who TWTD now believes was Newcastle's David Edgar — and Magilton has also expressed an interest in signing an experienced loan defender, presumably while he looks for a permanent addition to his squad.
Recently chief scout Steve McCall has made scouting trips to the Czech Republic and Poland with finding a new central defender likely to have been top of list of targets.
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