Town boss Mick McCarthy is reportedly set to travel to Ireland this evening to watch winger Daryl Horgan in action for Airtricity League Premier Division champions Dundalk in their Europa League game against AZ Alkmaar.
According to the Irish Independent McCarthy will be at the game but Dundalk have turned down requests for tickets for scouts from more than 20 overseas clubs as interest grows in a number of their players.
The Blues have watched Horgan, who will be a free agent in January, on several previous occasions and last month McCarthy said that "about 100 scouts” were keeping tabs on the right-sided wideman.
Town have also been linked with Horgan’s team-mate Andy Boyle but McCarthy has played down his interest in the 25-year-old centre-half.
In October Horgan was named the PFAI Player of the Year for 2016 and he was included in Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland squad for the first time earlier this month along with Boyle but without winning a cap.
Dundalk recently confirmed their third successive Airtricity League Premier Division title and have impressed in Europe this season.
The Galway-born wideman started his career with Salthill Devon before moving on to Sligo Rovers, Cork City, initially on loan, and then his current club in 2013, having spent time on trial at Barnsley and Torquay United.
Previously capped by Ireland at U19 and U21 levels, Everton, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Reading and Preston North End are among the other clubs previously reported to be keeping an eye on Horgan.
While with Dundalk Horgan has also carried off the 2015 FAI Cup, the 2014 League of Ireland Cup and the 2015 President’s Cup.
He was named the PFAI Young Player of the Year in 2014 and was selected in the PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
AZ, Town’s 1981 UEFA Cup final opponents, need to win tonight’s match, which is being played at Tallaght in Dublin, to stand a chance of progressing to the knockout stages, while a victory would put Dundalk in a strong position to go through.