Gifton in demand

Gifton is under contract at Burnley until the end of the 2006/07 season and when Brighton tried to take him on loan they found they would need to commit to taking him for a similar period.

McGhee said, “We've explored the possibility of signing Gifton Noel-Williams, as we have done with so many others, and there are reasons why we can't. He has a year on his contract left and Burnley are insisting we take over his contract. The fact is the club cannot afford to do that, it's as simple as that.

"People can then go on and argue that we should be gambling. I don't write the cheques, at the end of the day the chairman Dick Knight is protecting the club. He feels we cannot afford to mortgage in this situation, it's not the way we have done things. We've not done it so far, so he's not about to start.

McGhee said that one of his former clubs Millwall are now set to move for Gifton and if they do he could play against Brighton a week on Saturday when the two meet at The Den.

He added, "If they go and sign him there is nothing I can do about it. He could go there and do brilliantly and maybe help keep them up or he could go there and not keep them up. They would then find themselves with a player who they may or may not be able to afford and could then find themselves in financial trouble, because they have taken a gamble that hasn't worked.”

Things haven't really worked out for the former Stoke forward at Burnley. He's been in and out of the side and with the signing of Andy Gray he could find himself getting even less first team action. He's scored just the two goals for us, the last one coming at the end of August in the home draw against Derby.

McGhee claimed that he'd been alerted by Gifton's agent that he was available, but any move will have to be completed by Thursday which is the deadline for loan transfers.