Town set to miss out on Ward

Sources close to the player have told the Advertiser that the two clubs lead the way in the race to land the in-demand youngster, who has been chased by a host of teams from the Championship and League One.

Swindon had made enquiries about giving Ward another spell of regular first team football following a hugely successful loan period in Wiltshire last season, but this move will finally spell the end of boss Danny Wilson’s pursuit for the 18-year-old, pictured.

Ward will not be involved in Bolton’s Carling Cup second round tie against Southampton tonight, with manager Owen Coyle admitting he didn’t want the left-sided player cup-tied ahead of his loan switch, even though Coventry are already out of the competition.

Coyle said: “The likelihood is we will be letting Danny Ward go out on loan later this week so I wouldn’t want to cup-tie him.”

Preston and Cardiff have also been strongly linked with Ward, but he seems to be heading temporarily to either the Ricoh Arena or the New Den, and a deal should be finalised by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, Wilson has urged David Prutton to play higher up the pitch in support of Town’s strikers.

The central midfielder grabbed his first goal in Swindon colours during the weekend’s 1-1 draw with Brentford, heading in at the far post following a well-timed run in the box.

And manager Wilson insists that should be a regular occurrence for the 28-year-old, who switched from Colchester in the summer.

“David can offer us a lot more doing that because he's got a terrific engine, and what we don't want him to do is to be sat behind the ball just trying to play out and dictating football,” explained the Town manager. “That's where Jon Douglas should come into the equation.

“We want his (Prutton’s) energy going forward and getting up to support the strikers. That is where he will get his goals from because he is very difficult to pick up.

“Thankfully he is off the mark now, and hopefully a few more will follow.”