Blues boss Paul Jewell has confirmed that he’ll be in the market for a new goalkeeper when the transfer window opens. Loanee David Stockdale returned to Fulham earlier in the week with the Town manager not expecting his return before the end of January.

Jewell says Stockdale is likely to be required at Fulham until after the window closes when the Blues would only able to re-sign the 26-year-old on a 93-day loan: “It looks like Mark Schwarzer could be out for six weeks, which would take him past the window, so we will be in the market to try and get a goalkeeper if we can.

“We want to get long-term players in all over. Obviously we’ve got quite a few loan players and players on one-year contracts and the ideal would be to get players for the long-term, that is the ultimate plan, and hopefully we can do that in the coming months.”

Currently, Arran Lee-Barrett is the club's only fit senior goalkeeper with Wright out with a strained pec muscle, but probably for only another week. US U20 international Cody Cropper is expected to be out for a few months with the knee problem he suffered in training yesterday, with 17-year-old Irishman Conor O'Donnell drafted into the first team squad as cover over the Christmas period.

The Town boss admits that Stockdale’s exit is not ideal, even if he always felt the 24-hour recall clause included in the loan deal was a risk: “It was always going to be one of those decisions where we were going to be at the mercy of one of the goalies getting injured or losing form at Fulham.

“It is a blow for us, especially after getting a good result at Barnsley. David is a terrific goalkeeper and we’re disappointed to lose him but there’s nothing we can do about and there’s no use crying over spilt milk, it’s done and it’ll give someone else an opportunity.”

Jewell, who revealed he watched a match abroad on Friday evening, says the search for the new keeper is already ongoing: “We are out watching games all over Europe trying to improve our squad for the years to come.”

Photo: Action Images

JimmyJazz added 09:25 - Dec 16 In case you hadn't noticed we haven't got a recognised right back or many decent central defenders either. How many goals have we conceded this season?
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Mark added 09:29 - Dec 16 It's better Stockdale was recalled now rather than 1st February I suppose, as it allows us to work on bringing in a proper permanent replacement. Yes, we need a centre back, right back and probably defensive midfielder too. I suspect that Jewell won't be given money to spend on fees like Magilton and Keane were, that'll be the problem. I hope the scouts have unearthed some bargains therefore.

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blueoff added 09:34 - Dec 16 Crappy piece of management by Jewell it has to be said
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Wallingford_Boy added 09:50 - Dec 16 blueoff, why is it bad management exactly?
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saffronblue added 09:51 - Dec 16 This was one of Jewells stranger decisions, we had a decent keeper in Fulop and whilst Stockdale is at least as good if not better Fulop was signed on for the year and we gave him away (presumably to free up wages). Think it would have been better to keep Fulop and spend the year looking for his replacement. Mark agree with your comments and i think cash has been the problem as I get the impression that PJ has not been allowed to re-invest the cask from Connor, presumably as Roy frittered away so much.

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Superfrans added 10:27 - Dec 16 Saffron. Fulop would have been on v good wages, having come from the Prem. We couldn't justify paying that for him in the reserves. Hence he had to go if PJ didn't think he was good or committed enough. That has nothing to do with whether or not we can reinvest the Connor money. It's about good stewardship.
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Surco72 added 10:56 - Dec 16 Fulop was poor and was replaced by ALB anyway so we are in no different a position at all ,Loach in January
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Bergholtblue added 10:59 - Dec 16 What chance of getting Begovic back?
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Lesta_Tractor added 11:01 - Dec 16 Please can we have Scott Loach, Adam Smith and a youthful (under 35) defensive midfielder for xmas?
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Lesta_Tractor added 11:02 - Dec 16 oh and without wishing to be greedy Matt Lowton would also be nice..
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jert16 added 11:13 - Dec 16 no chance of begovic.. scott loach would be great, probably have to pay a decent amount for him though.
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pazelle added 11:18 - Dec 16 Dutch players will sign 3 year contracts! And they'll give a crap! Send ALL our scouts to the Nederlands! Just saying
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itfcbam added 11:25 - Dec 16 We talk rubbish on here, last season everyone was slagging Fulop off, now we shouldn't have got rid of him. Trouble with many of our "supporters", fickle is an understatement
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yorksblue added 12:05 - Dec 16 Steve Harper is an obvious choice as replacement. Clearly no longer in Pardew's plans and has always been reliable.
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saffronblue added 12:19 - Dec 16 We should go for Rhys Taylor in goal, could be our number 1 for years.
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Lightningboy added 13:45 - Dec 16 Read the other day that Joe Lewis of Peterborough was on the verge of moving? Couldn't we nip in for him? +PJ..Please sort out a right-back who can actually defend!
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Knightsy added 14:03 - Dec 16 Probadly end up with a Old Wigan Keeper.....Kirkland or Pollit
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KenDubZ added 15:01 - Dec 16 Scott Loach ... Neil Alexander
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bournemouthblue added 15:08 - Dec 16 Town in the market for a keeper, you don't say :)
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jas0999 added 17:05 - Dec 16 Simply shocking that this was not addressed sooner. What on earth was PJ doing - getting rid of our two top choice keepers over the Summer and just bringing in a loanee who could be recalled at the drop of a hat. I agree with others that the keepers sold/released were not outstanding - but relying on a loanee with a release clause?? Idiotic. The majority of ITFC fans accept that ALB is poor - so where was the back-up? PJ had all Summer to sort it out - it's now mid-December and the best he could do was an injury prone has been ex-Town freebie. Reeks of desperation and panic. I think most will agree that PJ completely dropped the ball on this. Should have been sorted long-ago. This is not bad luck - but poor planning by the manager.

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ipswichm8 added 17:10 - Dec 16 get a good premier league one like almunia or Marcus Evans could give us 20 mil to pay as he his a billionaire
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tractorboy2434 added 20:13 - Dec 16 If our Xmas and New Year form is as bad as the last 7 or 8 games it might well include a new manager
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Karlosfandangal added 21:35 - Dec 16 We should have offered Murphy a better contract when we let Fulop leave and started to look for a keeper for the future
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