Rochdale’s Jason Kennedy linked with Hibs

With just eight days to go until the transfer deadline, the only activity at Easter Road has been the capture of St Johnstone star Liam Craig on a “pre-contract” deal, Fenlon admitting the McDiarmid Park midfielder is highly unlikely to pull on a green-and-white shirt before the start of next season.

Fenlon’s already small squad has been further reduced in size with Northern Ireland winger Ivan Sproule having joined SPL rivals Ross County after becoming frustrated at a lack of first-team action while both Danny Galbraith and Pa Kujabi have been told by Fenlon he won’t stand in their way if they can find new clubs. Hibs could also lose Honduran midfield internationalist Jorge Claros when his year-long loan deal expires in six days with no sign of the extensive

negotiations which have been taking place between the Edinburgh outfit and his parent club Motagua in the hope of extending his stay in the Capital until the end of the season – as they have done with Leigh Griffiths and Ryan McGivern – coming to a conclusion.

As such, Sunday’s league match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie could be the 27-year-old’s last for Hibs with Fenlon admitting he’d then have to find a replacement for Claros. Fenlon has revealed he’s searching for a “wide player” but insisted he’d never heard of Vitoria Setubal winger Pedro Santos who, according to reports from Portugal, was said to be interesting both Hibs and German club Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Now reports in England suggest 26-year-old Kennedy, once a team-mate of Hibs skipper James McPake at Livingston, is on Fenlon’s radar. Kennedy, who began his career as a trainee at Middlesbrough, is out of contract at Spotland in the summer but is also said to have caught the eye of Motherwell manager Stuart McCall.

But Bradford City, who became the first fourth tier club to reach the English League Cup final by stunning Barclays Premier League strugglers Aston Villa with a 4-3 aggregate victory last night, are also said to be admirers of the League Two star.

Although he only made four appearances at the Riverside, Kennedy gained experience on loan at Boston United, Bury, Livingston – where he played alongside McPake, Robert Snodgrass and Graham Dorrans during a six-month stay in West Lothian – and Darlington.

A permanent move to

Darlington followed but he then joined Rochdale where he has now made more than 160 appearances.