Raith Rovers remain confident of hanging onto star midfielder Shaun Byrne for the remainder of the season.
And the Kirkcaldy club have also made an initial approach in a bid to persuade the on-loan Dundee player to sign on permanently at Stark’s Park.
The Championship leaders suffered a significant blow on Tuesday when Dan O’Reilly turned down a contract extension in favour of a move to Partick Thistle.
The Irishman penned a short-term deal back in November and had been offered fresh terms for the remainder of the campaign.
But he opted for the greater security of an 18-month contract at Firhill.
It is a setback for manager Ian Murray, who had expressed his desire to retain the services of the former Fulham trainee and will now have to plug the gap in his defensive options.
Murray said after the Fife derby triumph over Dunfermline he was eager to keep his current squad intact.
And that will definitely include Byrne, who has been a key performer since joining on loan from Dundee in August.
Option
The 30-year-old agreed a season-long deal but his Dens Park employers retain the option of recalling the play-maker during the current transfer window.
Raith, however, have so far had no approaches from the Dark Blues – and are optimistic none will come.
Chief executive Andy Barrowman said: “We’ve got Shaun until the end of the season.
“There’s obviously a recall option but that’s outwith our control.
“But Shaun obviously played for us on Saturday and has trained with us this week.
“So, he’s here and until we hear differently we’ve got him until the end of the season.
“There’s been a bit of chat but there’s certainly not been any indication they’re going to call him back.
“He’s happy here and he wants to stay here; I think he’s made that clear as well.
“There’s been a tentative conversation about what happens beyond this season.
January
“But it’s been a case of, ‘let’s get past January and we’ll take it from there’.”
Barrowman insists Raith will be ‘active’ in the current transfer window, but more than two or three signings are not expected.
And he has admits a combination of their position at the top of the SPFL Championship and the impressive form of most of the squad have thrown up their own challenges this month.
He added: “We’re trying to strengthen but we’ve got a good team and good players who aren’t getting a game at the minute as well.
“So, that makes it hard to strengthen.
“It’s always a lot easier to strengthen when you need results to change. It’s different when you’re winning games and guys not even in the team are in form.
“We’ll be active and we’ll see where that takes us, but it’s not an easy window to work in.
“It’s always difficult and more so when you’re sitting top of the league.
“I’ve seen some crazy names mentioned on social media. It looks like agents are throwing us into the mix just because we’re doing well and people are perceiving us to be throwing loads of money at it.
“We’re an easy target probably.”
