SHEFFIELD Wednesday boss Brian Laws is hoping to convince Francis Jeffers to quit the Premiership for the Owls in time to play against Ipswich Town on Saturday.

SHEFFIELD Wednesday boss Brian Laws is hoping to convince Francis Jeffers to quit the Premiership for the Owls in time to play against Ipswich Town on Saturday.

But Jeffers' personal demands may scupper the deal, as they did in discussions with Ipswich. Cardiff and Leicester City also held talks with the Blackburn striker this summer.

The Owls would need to come up with more than £500,000 a year in wages for the 26-year-old forward, whose fortunes have been on the slide since he joined Arsenal from Everton in an £8million transfer six years ago. Jeffers is surplus to requirements at Ewood Park and Rovers have agreed to sell him for around £700,000.

Laws said: “We're hopeful of signing Francis in time for Saturday. At times in the past Francis seems to have sacrificed his career for the sake of staying in the Premier League. He got the big-money move from Everton to Arsenal and has never quite managed to kick on from there.

“He's probably never played more than 10 to 15 Premier League games in a season but if he joined us he would get that regular first-team football that any player needs. Now is the time for him to take some positive action for the benefit of his own career.

“He's perhaps stayed at certain clubs too long, rather than move on to somewhere new even if that meant dropping down a division.”