Tranmere midfielder Antony Kay set for Huddersfield Town

May 23 2009 by Dougie Thomson

TOWN are set to make Tranmere skipper Antony Kay their first summer signing.

The Galpharm club are refusing to comment on speculation linking them with the 26-year-old former Barnsley midfielder, who has turned down a new contract at Prenton Park and also held talks with Championship new boys Peterborough.

But sources suggest he will join Lee Clark’s League I squad and bolster the bid for promotion from League I next season.

Peterborough’s director of football Barry Fry confirmed Barnsley-born Kay, who played 168 times and scored 12 goals for his hometown club, was on boss Darren Ferguson’s wanted list.

But it seems Clark has won the race for a player who netted 19 times in 96 games for Tranmere, two of them coming when Rovers beat Town 3-1 in Birkenhead in March.

Kay played a key role as Tranmere confounded the critics to finish seventh, just two points off the play-offs, in League I.

Town keeper Alex Smithies has been withdrawn from the England Under 19 squad for next week’s European Championship qualifiers because of his shoulder injury.