Town are set to sign Hearts central midfielder Ryan Stevenson on what's reported to be a three-year deal. News of the Blues' interest broke in Scotland overnight with a fee of £50,000 agreed for the 27-year-old, who we understand will be at the club today for talks and a look around.

Irvine-born Stevenson played youth football with Ayr United and Chelsea, staying in the same apartment block as John Terry when making regular trips south to train with the Premier League side.

In 2002 he moved on to St Johnstone where he made the breakthrough into first team football, before returning to Ayr United, initially on loan, in 2006.

The 5ft 11in tall midfielder, who can also play up front, moved to Hearts for an undisclosed fee in February 2010 and since then has made 47 starts and 20 sub appearances, scoring 11 goals. His contract is up at the end of June.

In December, after Hearts failed to pay their players’ wages, he asked for his contract to be terminated. This was refused but he told the club he wouldn’t play or train until he had been paid, citing stress on his unborn child amongst the reasons for his decision.

A Scotland call-up in November but without winning a cap, much-tattooed Stevenson was linked with Bristol City last month, while League Two Crawley had a bid rebuffed a week ago.

Stevenson, who would appear to be the type of player to replace Keith Andrews's goals in the Blues' midfield, is understood to have flown south to speak to the club this morning but it's unlikely that a deal will be completed until Monday. We understand Town made their offer to Hearts as recently as yesterday.

Meanwhile, Leicester boss Nigel Pearson says central defender Sean St Ledger is off the transfer list after breaking back into the Foxes side in recent weeks after a fall-out over Christmas: "He is fine and there is no rift. I am delighted with his performances. Is he off the transfer list? Yes, why not!"

Elsewhere, Town target Murray Wallace is interviewed in this morning's HeraldScotland. Town fans can catch Wallace in action for Falkirk against Celtic in the Communities League Cup semi-final on Sunday afternoon (2.55pm, BBC1 Scotland, Sky channel 971).

And in Ireland, ex-Blues midfielder Colin Healy is tipped to return to his old club Cork City, who are one of the clubs targeting Shane O'Connor. Both players recently had their Town contracts terminated by mutual consent.

Photo: Action Images

algarvefan added 09:18 - Jan 28 Didn't see that one coming, £50K....must be quality....we really need another midfielder to protect or non existent defence!!!
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Hamish1979 added 09:20 - Jan 28 Wow, panic over people.
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blueoff added 09:20 - Jan 28 Shopping at poundland again then Cleggy
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northstand78 added 09:21 - Jan 28 Splash that cash..
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portlandblue added 09:23 - Jan 28 well he used to stay in the same block of flats as jt. i once got on the same train as joe pasquale
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TractorsRUs added 09:23 - Jan 28 Good player and the subject of one of Jeff's favourite lines on GSS 'must have been a rocket'
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truckertractorboy added 09:25 - Jan 28 Why do we need him but still no central defenders .then again he might be good for us in league 1 next year the club is a dam joke
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Bigbigg added 09:29 - Jan 28 Lets just give him a chance shall we? (Presuming he actually signs!)
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Bleedingblue added 09:31 - Jan 28 Another Colin Healy? Do Hearts have defenders for sale too? Don't think he'll be too bad. Think we should try Leadbitter + 500k for Wes Morgan!
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Dissboyitfc added 09:31 - Jan 28 just goes to show, so many on here didnt think we would sign any quality players b4 the deadline, this is the news we have all been waiting for..... i just checked the date and no its not april the first.... leaves me sheechless, where are the defenders we desperately need, clock is ticking, i am really starting to fear the drop.... coyb
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Stretchstar added 09:32 - Jan 28 Why? Why oh why oh why????? Ha ha ha ha ha ha, woke up this morning hoping for a big surprise.......... well i certainly got one!!!!
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planetblue_2011 added 09:33 - Jan 28 WHO??? Lets hope we have signed a bargain hahaha
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 09:34 - Jan 28 Looks ok from this
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tractorblue99 added 09:36 - Jan 28 Just give him a chance. Maybe this means leadboots is on his way out?
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itfcjon added 09:36 - Jan 28 i thought we were a football club not a clinic. we have one with a gambling problem now we trying to get one who has stress over a unborn baby they should be paying us to get them better not us paying them. no wonder the other clubs are selling them cheap.
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walberswick added 09:37 - Jan 28 Put him straight into the reserves. Well done PJ, will all the effort you've put in sigining players you forgot which type to get.Yes, we needed a defender you idiot!
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MattinLondon added 09:38 - Jan 28 If Leadbitter is on his way before the end of the transfer window then guess this makes sense. But a right-back, a couple of centre backs are what we still need. At least its not another loan signing
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Legend added 09:41 - Jan 28 Defenders you clown!!! We are really screaming out for yet another midfielder aren't we!!! This is just to say that we have signed somebody when all the other so called bid and deals end up dead in the water! Nothing against the guy who signed but honestly do we need a midfielder? No we need a defence to stop us sliding into the abyss in may! Joke!
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Dissboyitfc added 09:42 - Jan 28 biggbigg, its not about giving him a chance , we need defenders... our midfield has been ok in recents games, its our shocking defence we want replacing...its a problem that has been so very obvious to so many for so long, yet it has not been addressed... bottom line is spend some cash and get a quality defence. there is no cheapness in cheapness, you get what you pay for.... i can only assume jewells hands are tied in transfer negotiations..evans and clegg sort this mess out now, failing to spend now is gonna cost big time.... coyb

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portman23 added 09:42 - Jan 28 Fantastic signing!!!! Coyb
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rogie_dog added 09:45 - Jan 28 I don't get some of the comments on here. Just because we sign an attacking midfielder doesn't preclude us from signing other defensive players. Get a grip!
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LancsBlue added 09:46 - Jan 28 This guy is a good player. As for 'bargain basement' shopping, he would go on a Bosman at the end of the season and is not playing so Hearts are probably glad to get anything for him. Real value is much more so thats good business. A very shrewd signing that will add quality and depth to the squad. Defenders will follow I'm sure.
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parkinshair added 09:48 - Jan 28 Why are some people being negative about him before they even see him kick a ball in anger? Andy Drury was only £150,000 from Luton and turned out to be a decent signing. Lets give the guy a chance eh! Much rather this kind of player than some 34 year old coming down from the premiership.
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DurhamTownFan added 09:48 - Jan 28 Nice video, dozzell! However, we'll take it in its context-scottish second division= league 2, league 1 or best. That said, as long as he's not on silly money, we might as well have him for that price. Now let's get some defenders and a permanent keeper! I can't help thinking ME is hedging his bets over jewell by stalling over the Portsmouth bids and not committing the real funds!

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Mungo added 09:50 - Jan 28 Don't know much about him but Hearts aren't a dreadful side and £50k puts him in the 'low risk' category. Could be a useful signing. And for those who (unbelievably) think that the club isn't spending enough money, two of our best signings in recent years were Jason De Vos and Shefki Kuqi, neither of whom cost a bean in transfer fees. Big transfer fees and wages don't neccessarily mean you get what you pay for. Ipswich fans should know this by now after the last few years?

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