Town boss Kieran McKenna says he expects on-loan forward Conor Chaplin to remain with Portsmouth for the rest of the season with a final decision set to be made next week.

Chaplin, 28, rejoined his hometown side where he started his career in the summer but with the deal including a January recall clause. That clause was due to expire this week, but McKenna has revealed that the Blues have activated an additional week just in case.

“There’s an extension on the recall, so that goes into next week,” he said. “The situation is that as it is we have 10 forwards in the building and they’re all there or thereabouts fit, so it’s likely that Conor will stay.

“He’s playing week in, week out at Portsmouth and they’re in an important season, so I think the likelihood is that he will stay there for the remainder of the season.

“But, of course, you want to leave things as long as possible because, should the situation change here for whatever reason, should the situation change there for whatever reason, you always want to have the benefit for the player to make as late a decision as possible.

“I think there’s a deadline next week or something like that. The clubs have communicated this week a little bit and he’s very much in their plans for now and they’re planning to have him for the rest of the season. That’s as it stands at the moment.”

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