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Town keeper Alex Smithies has been withdrawn from the England Under 19 squad for next week’s European Championship qualifiers because of his shoulder injury.