Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara says he would be keen to make Conor Townsend’s switch to Tannadice permanent.
On-loan Hull City full-back Townsend has been a smash hit since arriving on Tayside as part of the £2.85 million deal which took former United fans’ favourite Andrew Robertson to Steve Bruce’s Tigers back in the summer.
Twenty-one-year-old Townsend has returned to the Tangerines top team in recent weeks after overcoming a foot injury and insisted recently he would be open to the possibility of staying in Scotland long-term as his contract at the KC Stadium expires at the end of the season.
McNamara has been happy with the English ace’s contribution since moving to Scottish football’s top flight and admits having the left-back part of his long-term plans is something he’ll look at closer to the time.
He said: “We will look at his situation again in the summer. We have him for the rest of the season and he has been very good for us.
“It was disappointing when he got injured but in the last few games he has brought balance back on the left-hand side.
“It will depend on Hull but from my point of view he has been very good for this club.”
Meanwhile, United hope striker Mario Bilate could be back in action sooner than anticipated as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
The Russian-born Dutch ace missed last Friday night’s 1-0 Premiership defeat away to Motherwell after pulling up in their recent 3-0 win over St Mirren at Tannadice.
But McNamara said: “Mario has been doing some light work with the physio. He just needs to build it up so we’ll see how it goes.”