Stoke City fringe man linked with January exit to League One
Steve Bruce is making a January beeline to try to sign Niall Ennis for Blackpool, it is claimed.
Ennis has come back into favour a little since Mark Robins was appointed Stoke City manager, coming off the bench in the last two matches - getting the winning goal in the process in an FA Cup third round tie at Sunderland - having previously not got on the pitch since early November.
But League One clubs are on alert about the 25-year-old's availability over the next couple of weeks as Robins finalises his strike department for the rest of the season.
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Tom Cannon has been recalled by Leicester while Stoke have brought back Nathan Lowe - who started and scored in a draw with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday - and are looking to make further additions before the deadline passes at 11pm on Monday, February 3.
The Sun's Alan Nixon writes that Blackpool boss Steve Bruce - a former teammate of Robins at Manchester United - would like to add Ennis to his squad, which currently sits 14th and 10 points behind the play-off pace and 10 points above the relegation zone. He has previously been linked with Blackpool as well as Barnsley and Leyton Orient.
Bruce is looking for a forward and said on Friday: “At this moment we’ve got four strikers, and that’s the right sort of number when we play with two. We’re very happy with what we’ve got up front, but if there’s someone who could improve us, then we’ll try to improve.
“It’s very difficult in January, especially with strikers, so we’ll see what develops.
“Fletch (Ashley Fletcher) has two in his last five games and has shown vast improvement. When we look at the expected goals, we’ve created more chances than anyone else in the league, but we haven’t been clinical enough - that’s what we need to improve to get where we want to.”
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