COLCHESTER hot-shot Jamie Cureton would love to make his move to Layer Road permanent but nothing can be finalised until the transfer window reopens in January.

By Carl Marston

COLCHESTER hot-shot Jamie Cureton would love to make his move to Layer Road permanent but nothing can be finalised until the transfer window reopens in January.

Cureton has bagged seven goals in just six starts since his loan move from Swindon at the end of October. He celebrated his seventh in the 1-0 success at Hartlepool on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old has already had his initial one-month loan extended until December 31 - his last outing of the current loan deal is scheduled to be the visit to Brentford on New Year's Eve.

“Nothing can happen yet, not until January,” insisted U's boss Phil Parkinson last night. “No decision can be made before then. Of course I'm not going to rule out the possibility of trying to sign Jamie in the New Year, but a lot has to happen. For the moment, there's nothing we can do.”

Cureton has already made it plain that he would like to sign a permanent contract with the U's. He endured a torrid couple of months at his new club Swindon, failing to break his scoring duck and struggling to make the starting line-up.

By contrast, he has been in devastating form for the U's, netting on his full debut in the 3-2 win over Yeovil and scoring braces in the big victories over Leamington and Gillingham. His partnership with Chris Iwelumo, who is the leading scorer with 11 goals, is proving a big hit.

“It's the perfect partnership for me. The little and large combination has worked well for me in my career and we're each doing our different jobs well,” insisted Cureton.

And the former Norwich City, Bristol Rovers and Reading striker reaffirmed his feelings, and intentions, to the local press at his home club Swindon this week. “My gut feeling is that I won't be coming back (to Swindon) because I've been allowed out on loan in the first place and I've been allowed to extend my stay even though I've been scoring goals,” said Cureton.

“Iffy (Onuora) will have to make a decision if he thinks I can come back and reproduce the same thing at Swindon. But there is no guarantee that I will and he might want to use my wages to bring in some of his own players.”

n Tomorrow's League One match at league leaders Swansea City is all-ticket for visiting fans.

Any Colchester supporters planning to make the trip to the new Liberty Stadium should purchase their tickets before midday today, from the Layer Road ticket office. Contact 0871 2262161 for further details.