‘I expect there to be interest in Sammie again’ – U’s boss McGreal

Szmodics was nominated for the League Two player-of-the-month for November, earlier this week, following on from scoring all three league goals bagged by the Essex club last month, equating to seven points gained.

The 23-year-old missed out on the award, to Bury’s Jay O’Shea, but he is back in the limelight again and so is likely to be watched by other clubs over the coming weeks, just as he was during the last January transfer window – he was linked with a £1m move to Premier League club Bournemouth last January.

“I expect there to be interest in Sammie again, during the January transfer window,” said McGreal, before tomorrow’s home test against bottom club Macclesfield Town.

“He is a free-scoring No. 10, he has proven that to be the case year-after-year.

“Sammie has been scoring goals and he’s been up for some awards. He’s a very level-headed lad, but we know that we are going to get interest in him. He has a terrific ratio of shots to goals. He takes his chances, and usually gets himself into the right areas.

“Sammie had a great December last year, and he’s coming into this month after a great November.

“I also think that Mikael (Mandron) deserves credit for what he has done, since he has got back in the team. He and Sammie tend to form a good partnership.

“Mikael has not got the goals, but he has created the space for Sammie to exploit,” added McGreal.

Meanwhile, both full-backs, Ryan Jackson and Kane Vincent-Young, are fighting fit again after nursing niggling injuries following the 1-0 win at Forest Green Rovers from 11 days ago.

“The break has come at the right time, especially for a few of our players who were struggling with knocks,” said McGreal.

“Ryan Jackson and Kane Vincent-Young have had time to rest up. Ryan had to come off at Forest Green (after 70 minutes), because of his hamstring, but both have trained well this week.”