Leeds United manager Steve Evans insists the club were right not to pursue the loan signing of Kyle Lafferty.

The Northern Ireland striker signed for Birmingham City on the final day of the loan window, but Evans claims that the St Andrew's club would not have made the offer if they weren't in a late chase for the play-offs.

Evans declared: “On deadline day it (a deal for Lafferty) was as close as you could be.

“We just didn’t get it over the line.

“Birmingham got it done and I’m sure our supporters will ask why that is but that fact is that they thought they had a serious chance of the play-offs.

“If they had just been playing through to the end of the season, they wouldn’t have done a deal so rich either.

“I wanted to sign Kyle, everyone knows that, but from a club point of view it was the right thing not to do that deal.”

Watch Huddersfield Town fans celebrate at Elland Road

Video Loading

Liverpool are set to win the race to sign Ipswich Town teenager Andre Dozell - according to the Mirror.

The England u17s captain is also a target for Arsenal, Spurs and West Ham but the latest reports suggest Jurgen Klopp's men are already in talks with the Tractor Boys.

Ipswich are apparently set to receive in the region of £1.5m compensation for the player, who turns 17 next month and is the son of former Ipswich and Spurs midfielder Jason Dozzell.

The Football League have asked Sheffield Wednesday for their "observations" on initially selecting six loan players for a match day squad.

Wednesday selected a match day 18 against Bristol City including Michael Turner(Norwich), Daniel Pudil (Watford), Alex Lopez (Celta Vigo), Aiden McGeady (Everton), Vincent Sasso (Braga) and Joe Bennett (Aston Villa), but loan rules dictate only five can be named on the team sheet.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal.

Notified of their error ahead of kick off, the Owls promoted Jack Hunt and left out Bennett.

A Football League spokesperson has since told the Sheffield Star: “The League has been in contact with the club and have asked for observations.”

Bolton Wanderers are set to hold talks with their playing staff about who will remain next season as they address budget cuts for League One.

Co-owners Dean Holdsworth and Ken Anderson will chat to players and coaches as they look to trim a wage bill currently in excess of over £10m to one in the region of £6m.

Emile Heskey and Liam Feeney are out of contract at the end of the season, but the likes of Ben Amos, Jay Spearing and Darren Pratley are all on longer-term deals.

Brighton and Hove Albion could be set to lose midfielder Dale Stephens come the summer, with speculation he is seeking a move north, closer to his home town of Bolton.

Stephens has been a key figure in the club's promotion push but is believed to be unhappy with the contract offer from the Seagulls.

Elsewhere, Mo Diame will leave Hull City this summer if they do not secure promotion, according to reports.

Mohamed Diame of Hull City

The Tigers lie fourth in the Championship after the draw with Huddersfield Town last weekend, and their hopes of automatic promotion have taken a big blow in recent weeks.

And midfielder Diame, signed from West Ham in 2014, is desperate to be back playing in England's top tier next term.

Middlesbrough have announced they will appeal an FA violent conduct charge against Cristhian Stuani.

The Uruguayan was charged by the FA on Tuesday morning for an incident in the weekend's 1-0 win against Preston.

Officials missed the incident, which involved an elbow, and he has been charged retrospectively.

Nottingham Forest have said they will pay an outstanding debt to Derby County tomorrow.

For the second year running, Forest have apparently been late in paying monies related to away tickets and the Rams have complained to the Football League over the amount, understood to be around £90,000.

The Football League are apparently still investigating the situation.