LEICESTER City and Leeds United have shown fresh interest in Ipswich Town striker Marcus Bent, writes Derek Davis.The Foxes are concerned over an injury to striker Les Ferdinand and Leeds boss Peter Reid has been monitoring Bent for some time.

LEICESTER City and Leeds United have shown fresh interest in Ipswich Town striker Marcus Bent, writes Derek Davis.

The Foxes are concerned over an injury to striker Les Ferdinand and Leeds boss Peter Reid has been monitoring Bent for some time.

Although neither club are in a position to spend much money on Bent, his sale would generate enough latitude for Town boss Joe Royle to bring in new loan players.

With the deadline for Premiership clubs to sign players closing on Sunday they, or any other Premier League club, would have to move quickly.

To help Royle in his quest for reinforcements some outward movement of players – free transfers Andy Marshall and Alun Armstrong will be top of the list – would help.

And while getting someone in before the West Ham clash on Saturday would be ideal, waiting a few days may not be such a bad thing.

If Town were to bring someone in within the next 60 hours then they would lose two weeks of the loan period as their game with Crystal Palace has been called off due to international call-ups for Steve Kember's side.

Royle last night admitted he had not contacted any club about taking a player on loan but insisted it was still not impossible to land someone before Saturday's cash with West Ham.

He said: "At the moment we are not close to getting anyone in but I have earmarked a couple of players I would like and things could be agreed quickly if necessary.

"The other thing is we have a two-week break after the West Ham game which gives us a cushion."

They would also be reluctant to pay more wages than necessary and chairman David Sheepshnaks warned things were still very tight financially.

He said: "Along with all my colleagues, I have tremendous belief in Joe and his coaching staff to turn this around.

"Whether we get a loan player in before Saturday or not, we can expect a lot better performance than of late.

"We will back Joe in his plans but he knows that finances are extremely tight, especially as certain players have not moved as expected."

Sheepshanks also refused to be too despondent about the team's chances of recovering.

He added: "There is concern but not gloom. It is ridiculous after four games for people to be so gloomy.

"It has been incredibly frustrating to start the way we have especially as expectations were so high. But even with a smaller squad we still have some of the best players in this division and I'm confident things will work out.

"It is about where we finish, not where we are now."

The Palace game has been re-arranged for Tuesday, October 21, with an 8pm kick-off.