Stoke City are reported to have turned down Town loan bids for central defenders Danny Higginbotham and Leon Cort. Potters boss Tony Pulis is said to want the duo to remain at the Britannia Stadium as cover.
Higginbotham, 30, was linked with the Blues in the summer but dismissed the claims, saying he wanted to remain at Stoke.
Town manager Roy Keane will know Higginbotham well, the Mancunian defender having been at Manchester United during the Blues boss’s time at Old Trafford and having played for him at Sunderland prior to his move to Stoke in 2008.
Higginbotham, who has made five Premier League appearances this season, has also played for Royal Antwerp (loan), Derby and Southampton.
Cort, also 30, is yet to play in the Premier League for Stoke this season. The Southwark-born defender joined the Potters from Crystal Palace for £1.2 million in January 2008.
Prior to that Cort, the younger brother of former Wimbledon and Newcastle frontman Carl, was with Dulwich Hamlet, Millwall, Forest Green Rovers (loan), Stevenage Borough (loan), Southend United and Hull City.
Keane is looking to add two loan players to his squad with a central defender appearing a priority with Gareth McAuley likely to be out for a fortnight.
Meanwhile, centre-half Pim Balkestein, who is currently out of the first team, picked up a wrist injury in yesterday's reserve game against Norwich but says it's unlikely to be a big problem: "I'm off to have a scan on my wrist, but I don't think it's serious.
"Their lad [Owain Tudor-Jones] stood on my wrist, so it hurts a bit. And then I should have scored as well. I'm annoyed to miss that one."