Motherwell boss Steven Hammell has confirmed he’s in talks with Ipswich to secure defender Matt Penney on a longer loan deal, perhaps longer than the end of this season.
Hammell is keen to bring in at least one other player ahead of Sunday’s Premiership visit by Hibs, and says he may look elsewhere for further loans.
Penney, 24, has impressed since arriving from the League One club this summer, and has played 16 games for Motherwell this season. His Ipswich contract is up at the end of this season.
Hammell said: “We’ve been in dialogue with Matty and with Ipswich, and we’re hoping that we can come to a conclusion with that.
“He’s a player that has come in and done really well for us – on the flip of that, I think we’ve been really good for him also.
“It’s a good platform for him to come in and showcase his talents, to come and enjoy his football, which I think he has done.
“He’s a good player, he’s a good boy, he’s someone we’ve been in constant contact with, and we need a resolution in the next week or so.
“We want to keep Matty, we’ve made no secret of that.
“He’s been a good player for us in a problem position for us that we’ve solved pretty quickly.
“He’s enjoying his football, he’s playing every week, he’s doing well, he’s progressing his career.
“He’s getting good minutes on the pitch and getting good exposure, so as I said, he’s been good for us but I also feel we’ve been a good platform for him as well.
“Hopefully we can do some business there, at least until the end of the season.”
On loans, Hammell said: “It’s a difficult one because you’re very rarely going to get a permanent in January, especially with what we’ve got available to us.
“There is a lot of competition in the same market that we’re looking for, and it’s about how we can get a couple over the line before the end of the window.”
Hammell is keen to get further targets in at Fir Park, particularly in forward areas, and revealed he has been close.
He said: “It’s a continuing process, every waking minute and hour of the day is spent on that, every spare minute that we get outwith prep for the first-team gets spent on that.
“It has been frustrating so far – we’ve came close with a couple already, we’ve not quite been able to get anything over the line yet, but hopefully that will change soon.
“The aim is to get somebody in before the game on Sunday, that’s the goal.
“We’re trying to get a couple of players in as quickly as possible.
“Hopefully that means before Sunday, but it still needs to be a player that we want, that wants to be here, and who will fit in with what we’re trying to do here.
“That will be difficult in the January window, but that is the goal.”
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