Doncaster Rovers manager Sean O’Driscoll has admitted that he would be interested in signing Town striker Jon Stead, if his club could afford the 26-year-old's wages. Stead is believed to be one of the players Town manager Roy Keane has told is unlikely to play for the Blues again.
O’Driscoll said: "He's a good player with a good character and he has been mentioned to us before.
"His agent seems to feel that he would thrive on the environment down here, but as soon as you mention the dreaded word 'salary', our interest slightly wanes a little bit because of the cost implication.
"He's a very good player. We'll always follow things up, but at the back of your head, you'll always be thinking 'can we afford it?' And the answer is probably not."
Stead is contracted to Town until 2011 and the Blues would want to recoup a fee somewhere in the region of the £600,000 they paid Sheffield United for the former Huddersfield and Sunderland striker a year ago.
Meanwhile, reports in the North-East say Sunderland pair Grant Leadbitter and Carlos Edwards are on their way to Portman Road to discuss personal terms today, a fee having been agreed for the pair. There is as yet no confirmation as to whether Town’s reported interest in Daryl Murphy and Nyron Nosworthy has reached a similar stage.
Elsewhere, former Town loanee Franny Jeffers has been transfer-listed by Sheffield Wednesday after his red card for violent conduct in the Owls’ Carling Cup defeat to Port Vale earlier in the week.