Roy Keane says he is unlikely to send keeper Richard Wright out on loan before the end of the season. The former England man is back to fitness having recovered from his knee ligament injury.
Brian Murphy is beginning to establish himself as the Blues’ number one, while Arran Lee-Barrett is the regular sub keeper, but Keane says he’s not looking to send Wright out on loan: "Probably not, no, but if someone picks up the phone we’ll have a look at it.
"There’s good competition between the three keepers, a good edge to the three of them. I think they’re all keeping one another on their toes.
"Sometimes when you let a player go out on loan the other player loses ‘the eye of the tiger’ a little bit.
"Murph’s got the number one top at the moment, Arran’s on the bench but that could change if I’m not happy with the way they train. I’ve no problem making changes.”
Keane likes to have three keepers in his squad but, with Wright’s contract up in the summer, says he’s as yet undecided whether he’ll look to stick with his current triumvirate: "We’ll see.”
The Town manager says he has been impressed with Wright’s professionalism: "His attitude has been spot on. We know what Wrighty is capable of doing and we’re delighted to have him at the club and if he trains well today and one of the other two keepers have an off day, then he’ll be involved. Simple as that, all the players know that.”
Meanwhile, Wright’s former Town team-mate Chris Makin has joined Unibond League Radcliffe Borough on a short-term deal until the end of the season. The full-back, now 36, retired from professional football in May 2008 due to a hip injury when a Southampton player.