Doncaster Rovers defender George Friend is reported to be undergoing a medical at Middlesbrough. The 24-year-old had been expected to join the Teessiders earlier in the week after the clubs agreed a £250,000 fee but he pulled out of the move at the last minute and was believed to favour a switch to Portman Road instead.

However, the centre-half or left-back appears to have had another change of heart and Boro once again appears to be his destination.

Nottingham Forest, managed by Friend’s former Rovers boss Sean O’Driscoll, were also believed to be targeting the one-time Exeter man.

Meanwhile, Blues chief executive Simon Clegg has reiterated manager Paul Jewell's comments regarding his Aston Villa opposite number Paul Faulkner's enquiry regarding left-back Aaron Cresswell: "I certainly discouraged him, but I do recognise that every player has a price and if they offer us more money than we consider he is worth, then it is something we might have to look at. We are a long way from that stage at this moment in time though.”

Photo: Action Images

fussysnake added 11:33 - Jul 27 meh, can think of better signings
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hampstead_blue added 11:34 - Jul 27 Playing on off against the other?
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StanwayBlue added 11:34 - Jul 27 Move on
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ChrisMakin2012 added 11:34 - Jul 27 He's clearly going to boro! Who are we kidding?
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SWBlue86 added 11:39 - Jul 27 We were probably only looking at him as back up for Cresswell - Hopefully means he will stay now.
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SuttonTB added 11:40 - Jul 27 Is anyone keeping a count of how many players are linked to us this summer?
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Garv added 11:41 - Jul 27 Doubt he was ever coming here. Not a huge loss.
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Scribble added 11:42 - Jul 27 Part of a poor relegated team anyway so sure there's better out there but again this was just a link and possibly nothing in it
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Toepunt added 11:42 - Jul 27 An indecisive defender is the last thing we need! Next!
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rayman_10 added 11:44 - Jul 27 A right sided centre half and I think our defence is done! Just as long as we keep Cresswell and Delaney!
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Hermann_eats_puffin added 11:45 - Jul 27 It seems reasonable to assume that our interest would be based on whether or not Cresswell moves to Villa. Whilst there's uncertainty you can't blame Friend for wanting to get his future sorted whilst he has offers on the table. With there being interest in Friend from both Mowbray and Sean O'Driscoll at Forest (who would have managed him at Doncaster) I'd say this must mean he's fairly good because they are both managers who look for players who can get the ball down and actually play football. Anyway it's not the end of the world because at the end of the day I'd be extremely happy if we can keep hold of Cresswell and the need for a new LB is therefore negated. However whilst Jewell has stated his desire to keep hold of Cresswell money talks in football and if he does move to Villa then we'll just have to move onto other targets or hope that Whight can step up.

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wychyblue added 11:52 - Jul 27 Be surprised if he is going to Forest as the have signed Danny Collins and Greg Halford was there yesterday to finalise a deal. Still do need a Centre half though big time. (Thought Tommy Smith was a little suspect last night defensively at times)
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BoredWithThisNow added 11:52 - Jul 27 Then Cresswell stays? That's a win methinks.
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Kesgraveblue57 added 11:56 - Jul 27 To miss the chance of signing George Friend is a big mistake, he wanted to come to Ipswich but PJ wanted to wait and see if Cresswell goes to Villa, he should know this if not why. Friend is a better player than Smith and on a parr with Cresswell
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runningout added 11:58 - Jul 27 Boro got a good signing there...
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ChrisMakin2012 added 12:03 - Jul 27 If Cresswell breaks his leg and is out all season then what?
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radiogaga added 12:05 - Jul 27 Scribble - we signed Gareth McAuley in 2008 just after Leicester went down & he proved to be a great signing for us. That said, only Donny conceded more than Town last year. No need to panic, plenty of affordable quality out there if searched hard enough!
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mark1969 added 12:09 - Jul 27 Think this guy would have been a good addition , if as reported he also wanted to play for us it is strange we did not pursue it . Guess we have other irons in the fire, would feel more comfortable if we hurried up, the clock is ticking towards the big kick off . lets get a couple of players in and go for it this season .
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Mark added 12:17 - Jul 27 I doubt Friend would want to join Ipswich as a backup player. I thought I read that he prefers centre-back, presumably the left side, and we already have Smith and Delaney for that position. If Cresswell is staying then we do need a backup for him from somewhere however, unless Whight has made substantial progress since the Doncaster match when he wasn't deemed ready to start.

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Langdon_Blue added 12:19 - Jul 27 Can you imagine the 'boro fansite, if they have the equivelent 'moaning brigade' as we do... "He's only here because Ipswich didn't want him, what's become of our once great club, we can only attract players if no-one else wants them. Mogga out!!"
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stinkiusminkius added 12:29 - Jul 27 Shame - I reckon Friend is better than both Smith and Delaney so would have improved the squad (and allowed Del to be offloaded). Still only see Smith as backup to a better LCB, if we want to progress. Still need another rcb too.
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Tractamatt added 12:37 - Jul 27 Maybe this means that Ipswich said no because Cressy has said he wants to stay at Portman road. Any news on the Davies situation?
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WorcesterBlue added 12:48 - Jul 27 A shame as we have no real cover at LB (wight a long way off by all accounts) and I think we are still suspect on LCB. Friend is a good player and at£250k would be good business regardless of the Cressie situation. There's been some good news recently but I'm still worried that we're signing CMs when we are still well short wide, up front and at CB.
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emergencylime added 13:07 - Jul 27 @LangdonBlue Funnily enough, some were saying that he chose Ipswich over Boro as we were offering "better wages so stuff him"! I don't know if we would due to FFP , but anyway others were saying that it was the players choice. I know it was a newspaper site as opposed to a forum, but there seemed to be an unnerving level of diplomacy! (or maybe their equivalent of Scott and Steroo had been banned already?)

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emergencylime added 13:07 - Jul 27 @LangdonBlue Funnily enough, some were saying that he chose Ipswich over Boro as we were offering "better wages so stuff him"! I don't know if we would due to FFP , but anyway others were saying that it was the players choice. I know it was a newspaper site as opposed to a forum, but there seemed to be an unnerving level of diplomacy! (or maybe their equivalent of Scott and Steroo had been banned already?)

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