KILMARNOCK are set to solve their defensive crisis by snapping up Celtic defender Eoghan O’Connell on loan for the rest of the season.
As Brendan Rodgers’ squad jets out to Dubai today for a sunshine break, the 21-year-old centre back will report to Rugby Park on Monday.
O’Connell made seven appearances for Celtic at the start of the season, including the Champions League matches with Astana, Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Barcelona.
However, he was edged down the pecking order following the return to fitness of Jozo Simunovic and the arrival of Kolo Toure.
Rodgers indicated in November that it would be best for the Irishman, who has also had spells with Oldham Athletic and Cork City, to gain further experience on loan and now a deal has been struck with Killie.
The Celtic manager said: “He did very well in pre-season but the team has changed and he is not getting so much game time. So if he can get out on loan that will give him the game time he needs to develop."
Kilmarnock were so short at the back in their final game of 2016 against Partick Thistle that Gary Dicker had to move into central defence to play beside youngster Iain Wilson.
Lee is also hoping to bring in three players from Newcastle United’s development squad – goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, forward Callum Roberts and box-to-box midfielder Sean Longstaff
Clark, meanwhile, has extended Burnley full-back Luke Hendrie's stay in Ayrshire but another four loan spells have ended.
On-loan Hendrie, who has made 18 appearances for the club, has been kept on until the end of the season while manager Lee Clark again reshapes his squad following a busy summer transfer window, when 17 new players came in.
The Ladbrokes Premiership club confirmed Charlee Adams had returned to Birmingham after nine appearances; Jonathan Burn is not returning after a thigh injury forced him back to Middlesbrough for treatment; and Huddersfield pair Flo Bojaj and Will Boyle have also ended their time in Ayrshire.
George Green, Oliver Davies and Mark Waddington had previously cut short loan spells at Rugby Park while Ross County defender Scott Boyd is on a season-long loan.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here