TOWN are considering making an approach to bring Ben Tozer back to the County Ground, the Swindon Advertiser can exclusively reveal.

Chairman Andrew Fitton is believed to be keen on recruiting the teenage centre-back from Newcastle United either on loan or on a permanent deal, less than two years after Tozer, pictured left and inset, departed Wiltshire for the north east.

In January 2008, at just 17, the defender switched to St James’ Park on a four-and-a-half-year deal which could eventually be worth up to £1.1million for Swindon, despite only making seven first team appearances.

And while Tozer, now 19, has been a regular for the Tyneside outfit’s youth and reserve sides since joining, he has found it hard to establish himself in the first team picture and has just one start - in the Carling Cup - and a solitary substitute appearance to his name this season.

The Advertiser understands that Newcastle manager Chris Hughton would be willing to let the youngster leave the Toon on a free transfer as they bid to dramatically reduce their squad size and wage budget following last season’s relegation to the Championship.

And this has alerted Swindon to the possibility of the talented youngster making a return, with the most likely scenario being in a back-up role to current centre-half pairing Gordon Greer and Scott Cuthbert.

Town chairman Andrew Fitton played down the rumour yesterday, but admitted he knew that Tozer could depart St James’ Park on at least a temporary basis.

“We are aware that Ben is available on loan either now or in the future, but we are not short of centre-backs,” he told the Advertiser.

“To be honest, I don’t think I’ve seen Ben play and it is not an area we are urgently looking to strengthen, but what is increasingly happening in this league is there is a growing use of loans.

“I think Leicester’s side which won League One last season had five loan players in it, and that shows it can be a successful venture.

“It seems to be a growing trend and both Premier League and Championship sides have realised that they can give their young players good experience and a good learning environment by sending them to clubs at this level.”