“If Tyrick [Mitchell], heaven forbid, got an injury that saw him out for a month, two or three, we would have to put something of a square peg in a round hole to fill that gap at left-back, and it’s not optimal.
“I think that’s fair to say on every single level, so it’s certainly going to be interesting to see what we do with that loan space once Jean-Philippe Mateta has vacated the football club – I think it’s a case of when not if now.”
Having joined halfway through last term and made just 3 appearances in the league, sources in France also linked the striker with a move to Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne.