Bristol City boss Sean O’Driscoll has confirmed that he wants to keep winger Paul Anderson at Ashton Gate as the Robins look to return to the Championship at the first attempt. The 24-year-old is the subject of a swap deal proposed by the Blues which would see Jay Emmanuel-Thomas move in the opposite direction.
O’Driscoll told the Bristol Post that he’d like both players in his squad next season if possible but says there’s a long way to go before any deal is done: "Paul Anderson is not a player I would ideally want to let go. He fits in with what I am trying to do here next season.
"That, plus the fact Jay cost a lot of money when he moved to Ipswich from Arsenal, mean a deal is still a long way off.
"We were approached to take Jay and I had him at Doncaster and think he's a talented boy. But he is on Championship money and we are a League One club.
"Wage-wise we cannot compete and there is a lot of work to be done before something can be agreed. We are talking financial matters at the moment and that is as far as things have gone."
The Blues are believed to have paid at least an initial £1 million for Emmanuel-Thomas when he moved to Portman Road two years ago - clauses in the deal could have taken the figure to £2 million - and are said to want to recoup that fee, but the League One Robins are unlikely to be in a position to pay anything like that as they look to cut costs following their relegation.
Emmanuel-Thomas, who was yesterday charged with misconduct by the FA, did not travel to Ireland with the rest of the Town squad.
Meanwhile, youngsters David October, Amir Berkane and Kyle Hammond underwent the now traditional initiation into the first team squad at the Blues' training camp at Carton House in County Kildare last night when they were made to sing in front of their more senior team-mates.
Right-back Hammond tweeted: "Singing in front of the first team wasn't the best experience of my life!"