Friday 17 January 2014 16:56, UK
Coventry have to date rejected just a solitary bid for wantaway striker Leon Clarke, according to manager Steven Pressley.
Although not directly named, League One rivals Wolves are widely understood to be the interested party although their initial offer was below City's valuation of the striker. Pressley would be keen on a cash-plus-player deal, with Wanderers striker Bjorn Sigurdarson believed to be of interest, but there is currently no agreement on the horizon. Wolverhampton-born and former Wanderers frontman Clarke, who still has 18 months remaining on his Sky Blues contract, handed in a formal transfer request on Monday. Pressley said on Friday: "One club have made an offer to us but it's an offer that we, at this moment in time, don't think is sufficient, and that's the only piece of interest we've had. "He'll be going nowhere until the club we talk about reaches what we believe to be the correct figure." Pressley insists Clarke has trained very well this week and will be in contention for Saturday's trip to Preston. The Scot admits he was obviously disappointed by news of Clarke's request but accepts the situation he finds himself in as "part of football". "It's normal, your head gets turned by another football club who are probably promising you a lot more money than we're paying," he said. "I understand that, I'm just disappointed with the timing because we've come such a long way in five or six months and got ourselves into a position where we could potentially be challenging at the top end of the league. "It's obviously a big blow because he's been a big part of that but I understand the reasons." Clarke's potential departure leaves a big hole to fill up front with the 28-year-old having found the net 18 times in all competitions this term - topping the League One scoring charts. With 15-goal Callum Wilson also sidelined for at least two months with a shoulder injury, Pressley was already working around the clock to bolster his attacking options this month. But he insists he will not now press the panic button as Coventry aim to continue their push for a potential play-off place. "I was working really hard with Steve (Waggott, development director) as it is," Pressley added. "The easy thing in this situation is to panic and go out and bring in replacements who aren't really what you're looking for. "I'm not going to do that, I want to get the right replacements in here. We've still got 22 games of the season to go. "The ones I get in have to be the right players, that's why I'm working exceptionally hard on certain targets because they are my priority and I want to bring them in."