CHESTERFIELD are poised to test the water with Wanderers and make a loan move for Craig Davies – but might have to wait for an answer.

Sources in Derbyshire claim the League One club want to sign the Whites striker on a six-month loan but have yet to submit their bid.

All of Wanderers’ energy is currently focussed on completing the £600,000 sale of Marvin Sordell to Burnley and weighing up a move for Middlesbrough’s Lukas Jutkiewicz.

But once the dust has settled on Dougie Freedman’s restructured attack – which is also expected to include a loan bid for Cardiff City’s Joe Mason – he is likely to sanction Davies’s departure. Paul Cook’s side need extra firepower and have set their sights on the Wales international, who had a successful year at Chesterfield earlier in his career, scoring 25 goals in the 2010/11 campaign.

A permanent move is unlikely at the moment but the ambitious club think they can supplement enough of the striker’s wage to convince them to part with his services for the first half of the season.

Another of Davies’s former employers Port Vale have been credited with an interest, although Wanderers insist they have not spoken with any club about loaning out their players yet this summer.

Meanwhile, David Wheater hopes the Whites continue to show the form that saw them lose just two of their final 17 games of last season when they start all over again on August 9 at Watford.

The big defender will return with the rest of the squad to Euxton at the start of next week for full training.

And he is already looking to the big kick-off, which sees a local derby against League Two Bury a few days later.

“I’m definitely excited to get going again,” he told the club. “The players that came in on loan last season had such a big impact and we’ve been able to sign a number of them up.

“We have to aim to start the season as we finished it, in that similar run of form.

“Watford on the opening day is a tough start, then we’ll be right back up at it again for the cup game against Bury.”