Championship duo Birmingham City and Fulham, plus relegated Wigan Athletic are keen on signing out-of-contract Ipswich Town winger Paul Anderson, we understand.

The 26-year-old will not be offered a new deal at Ipswich in the immediate future, although further discussions may be held later in the summer if that suits both player and club.

The former Nottingham Forest man, who scored in the first-leg of the Championship play-off semi-final draw with Norwich City, hit the net seven times in 71 appearances during a two-season spell with the Blues, but regularly found himself on the substitutes’ bench during his time at Portman Road

Town fans wanting Anderson to stay have set up an online petition asking McCarthy to give the Melton Mowbray man a new contract, but we understand there will be no shortage of takers, should nothing materialise.

Birmingham and Fulham will be looking to strengthen their squads after finishing 10th and 17th respectively in the Championship, while Wigan, who released five players on Tuesday, will rebuild after falling into the third tier.

Anderson, who played his last game for Town in Saturday’s play-off second-leg defeat at Norwich, is one of several players to have not yet been offered new terms by the Blues following their failure to cement a Play-Off Final date against Middlesbrough on May 25.

The Hunt brothers, Noel and Stephen, and Darren Ambrose are in the same boat as Anderson, while Richard Chaplow, who moved to Suffolk on-loan from relegated Millwall in February, is now also a free agent.

Ex-Macclesfield Town defender Elliott Hewitt has also been told to find a new club after Town decided against taking up an option to sign him for a further year, while Anthony Wordsworth, Paul Taylor, Paddy Kenny and Omar Sowumni are also on the look-out for new employers.

Jack Marriott, meanwhile, has signed for Luton Town.