Everton boss David Moyes has yet to decide on the best loan move for promising Irish full back Shane Duffy.
Everton recently refused a loan request from League two side Northampton Town for the young central defender and a number of Championship sides including Preston and Leeds United, and League one side Southampton are believed to have approached the Toffee’s looking to take the 18 year old Ireland international on loan.
Preston manager Darren Ferguson has been linked with an approach for Duffy as he looks to shore up his goal-leaking defence, and he attended the Everton reserve game on Monday to monitor Duffy’s progress.
Speaking after last night's defeat to Barnsley, Ferguson said: “I'm hoping to get three bodies in and I will be on the phone all day on Wednesday - the positions will become clear when they are done deals.”
It remains to be seen if Duffy will be joining Ferguson at Deepdale, or if another Championship club is deemed more suitable for Duffy’s continued progress.
Aston Villa are prepared to match bids from Liverpool in an attempt to beat their Premiership rivals to the signing of Preston and Ireland defender Sean St Ledger
Villa scouts have watched the Ireland international regularly while Liverpool assistant boss Sammy Lee has also been keeping a close eye on the progress of 25 year old StLedger over the past month.
St Ledger has recaptured his form and fitness after a difficult past 18 months where he saw a move to Middlesbrough collapse and tentative inquiries from Celtic come to nothing.
However, Preston are struggling to shed their debts and will be willing to listen to offers in January with an asking price of around £4million.
Villa manager Gerard Houllier knows he has an advantage over his former club Liverpool as St Ledger is a Villa fan and has partnered Richard Dunne at international level.
Houllier said: 'If we spot a good international player who can add something, we'll take him. We will have one or two coming in January.'
Ireland defender Sean St Ledger admits Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Italy is the biggest game of his career.
The central defender has started Ireland's last five games and is set to continue at Croke Park as Giovanni Trapattoni's men attempt to pip the Azzurri to top spot in Group Eight.
Ireland need to guarantee a win to keep their hopes of an automatic qualification spot for next year's tournament in South Africa alive, and 24-year-old St Ledger believes they have nothing to lose.
"I would imagine that, when the fixtures came out, this would be the game everyone was looking at and, from a footballer's point of view, it is probably the same," he said.
"You have to take each game one step at a time but, now the game is here, it is massive.
"It's massive. It's the biggest game of my career to date. We are playing one of the great football nations, not just now but in terms of history as well.
"If you look at the importance of the game, realistically, we are probably looking at the play-offs and that's going to be tough for us.
"But we have got nothing much to lose. We can go out there and try to beat the Italians."
"St Ledger has had a busy year which has seen the defender move from Preston to Middlesbrough on a short-term deal with a view to a permanent move, as well as being thrust onto the international scene.
"Only a few months back I wasn't in the squad at all and now I have got five caps," he added. "It's like a dream come true.
"I wasn't in the squad to go to Italy, which was obviously disappointing at the time, but it is going to be strange walking out with the likes of Gattuso and people like that.
"Only a couple of years ago, I was playing against Bradford in front of 2,000 people and their dogs. It's a major difference but something I would like to taste more of."
More than two years after he was first called into the Ireland squad by Steve Staunton, Preston North End defender Sean St Ledger is still waiting for his first international cap.
And while the centre-half has admitted his frustration at being left out in the cold under Giovanni Trapattoni, he has dismissed suggestions that he is about to turn his back on Ireland and throw in his lot with Northern Ireland.
The 24-year-old has been a mainstay in defence for a Preston side who are in fourth place in the Championship table and has earned widespread praise for his defensive displays.
But the FAI have yet to come calling again for St Ledger, who qualified for Ireland through his Carlow-born grandfather, and some fans at Deepdale were surprised when young full back Eddie Nolan was called into the Irish squad for the recent World Cup qualifier against Georgia as defensive cover ahead of St Ledger.
"I am frustrated and disappointed that my chance with Ireland hasn't come yet, but I will just have to be patient and wait for my chance if it comes along," St Ledger told the Evening Herald.
"But there is no chance of me turning away from Ireland and looking to play for Northern Ireland, one or two people mentioned it to me but it's not in my mind. My allegiance is to Ireland and no one else, I don't just want to get international caps for anyone, I want to play for Ireland so there's no chance of me playing for anyone else.
"An international career with Ireland would be amazing for me, but sometimes you can't get too hung up on these things and sometimes they happen when you least expect them, that was the case when I was first in the Ireland squad three years ago, the call came from nowhere and maybe I'll get that call out of the blue again someday.
"Giovanni Trapattoni and his staff know where I am and where I play, they have been to see us play and they were impressed with Eddie Nolan when they saw him play for Preston, I just hope I get a chance to catch the eye again."
St Ledger, who made his name with Peterborough United before a move to Preston in 2006, was briefly involved with the Ireland U21 side under Don Givens but was never capped and his first real taste of international football was when Steve Staunton caused a major surprise by adding the Preston man to his senior squad for the opening game of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
Just months earlier he had been playing in England's fourth division (League Two) but in September 2006 St Ledger was on the bench for Ireland's 1-0 defeat in Stuttgart against Germany - the man next in line for the central defensive positions if anything had happened to first-choice centre halves Richard Dunne and Andy O'Brien - and was also a sub for the qualifiers against Cyprus and the Czech Republic.
But since then there's been nothing, and like other players who emerged into prominence in the Staunton era (Jon Douglas, Alan O'Brien, Jay Tabb, Darren Potter), there has been no involvement with the national team under Trapattoni.
"It's disappointing not to get the call but I will wait my turn," he adds. "I'm not the only one who has been left out, I think our striker here Stephen Elliott should be in the Ireland squad as well. We have four Irish players here: myself, Stephen, Wayne Henderson and Eddie Nolan, it would be great for the club to have all four of us in the squad.
"We might get a chance in the summer, Ireland have that game against Nigeria in London in May and then the qualifier in Bulgaria in June, by that stage some of the Premier League players might be injured or unavailable so I have to make sure I am fit and ready if the call does come.
"Ireland don't have too many central defenders at the moment. Richard Dunne and John O'Shea seem to be the men in possession, Paul McShane can play there as well but we don't have too many after that so I hope I can be next in line when Ireland need a centre half," added St Ledger, who was first made aware of his eligibility for Ireland when he lined out for Peterborough alongside Irish boys like Killian Brennan, Neale Fenn and John O'Flynn.
"I have been happy with my form this season. We have been good defensively and kept a few clean sheets in the last while, but we can do better and certainly out away form can improve".
