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Gills Still After Brown - Ipswich Town News

Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler says his club are still keen to sign Town defender Wayne Brown. The 25-year-old, given a free transfer by Joe Royle, had been in talks with the Gills and Watford although both deals appeared to have broken down at the weekend.

Hessenthaler is hoping that Brown will accept the terms offered at the Priestfield Stadium: "The chairman has already made an offer to the player and his agent.

"All we can do is wait and see if the offer is accepted or not. We know that Watford have dropped out of the race due to finances but that doesn't mean that he is ours.

"Our own finances are tight as are the finances of a lot of clubs at the moment, but we're optimistic — you have to be.

"If the deal could be done it would give us real options at the back. Chris Hope and Barry Ashby have been outstanding this season, Leon Johnson has also come in and played a blinder for the last three games.

"That doesn't mean that we'll drop our interest in Brown. Ash has missed a couple of games with a groin strain and really shouldn't have played on Saturday.

"You bring another player into the equation and that allows you to give the players struggling with niggling injuries full rehab."

At the weekend Watford boss Ray Lewington said that Brown's demands were too high for the Hornets while we understood that the Town defender had also turned down an initial offer from Gillingham.

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