COVENTRY City's Adrian Heath has described Darren Currie as one of the best crossers outside the Premiership and the man to provide firepower to his side's strikers.

By Derek Davis

COVENTRY City's Adrian Heath has described Darren Currie as one of the best crossers outside the Premiership and the man to provide firepower to his side's strikers.

Currie is set to sign for the Sky Blues initially on loan with a view to a permanent deal, although the City assistant manager believes that will happen next week after a few loose ends are tied up.

Micky Adam has been keen on the Blues Player of the Year for some while and will be delighted to finally land the winger.

Heath said: “The manager has inquired about Darren on a couple of occasions but at first Ipswich were interested in a swap deal, but they were for people we did not want to lose.

“The situation has now changed and something can now be done with just Darren involved.

“It is unlikely it will happen in time for Saturday but something will probably be done for next week now.”

He added: “With the quality that he has Darren is probably one of the best crossers of the ball with both feet outside the Premiership.

“It is something that we have spoken about before. We have not been working the penalty area enough and Darren is one of those people that can help us.

“There are limits to his game but once he is in the final third he delivers into the penalty area with regular precision.”

Although it is unlikely that Currie will be at the Ricoh Stadium this weekend, it is also doubtful that he will start against Norwich City, with the best he can hope for is a place on the bench.

Town could have five loanees starting with Mike Pollitt and Matthew Bates making their Town debuts while Gary Roberts, Simon Walton and Jon Macken are all in contention.

Macken, who will return to Crystal Palace in January, is the least likely to start as Billy Clarke is recovering from a knee injury.

Danny Haynes has been struggling with a hip injury while Shane Supple is out with a groin strain.

The players have enjoyed two days off this week, so over-training cannot be used as any sort of excuse and Magilton will use these next two days to finalise his starting XI.

With nine bookings to his name already this season, Alex Bruce is walking a disciplinary tightrope as he prepares for his first derby against the team his dad Steve used to manage and play for.

Alex Bruce was born in Norwich and spent some of his formative years there when his dad was skipper but will not let that, or the fear of a two-match ban, weaken his resolve to find Town's first win in four matches.

Fans' favourite Fabian Wilnis, who has an interesting history against Norwich, is unlikely to start and an injury could rule him out all together, although he will be checked later today.