O’Neill Knows Nothing Of Interest

Martin O’Neill has dismissed reports linking Aaron Hughes to Sunderland on loan or the paper talk of Jlloyd Samuel being lined up by Bolton in a summer Bosman move and Juan Pablo Angel back to River Plate.

O’Neill said: ‘I have not heard anything about those two. I have not heard from the football clubs. Nobody from Bolton has contacted me about Jlloyd Samuel, although I am not saying that they should. I didn’t know about River Plate or about Sunderland and Hughes.’

‘What I do know is that other Championship clubs have enquired about some of our players, not including those three, to take them on loan. I think people read into it about us only having the one fixture and we were inundated with calls – as we still are from clubs looking at some of our players at this moment.’

Adding on the official site: ‘Whilst I will treat every case on its own merits, at the end of it we now have three games in a relatively quick succession, although we don’t play many games. I will look at each case individually – I will not say yes or no – to see if it is worthwhile. I do not want to turn around and say that I am not loaning anybody out, and then the next day I let somebody out. I will treat each case on its merits, I am just a wee bit concerned because only four or five weeks ago we could hardly put a team together.’

‘The fact is we have a number of players who are now fit and may need some football. But I am not rushing to be sending players out on loan at this minute. Two weeks ago when they would have only missed one game at Reading it would have been a genuine thought. But I haven’t switched my mind off to the idea.’

Time to keep them now surely? We have a tough run in and might as well have cover incase any of the regulars pick up an injury or two?

Peter Whittingham is doing great at Cardiff by the sounds of it, good to see an ex-Villan doing the business.