NOTTINGHAM Forest may be poised to gatecrash Marcos Alonso’s contract negotiations with Wanderers.

The Spanish full-back, who has been enjoying a run in Dougie Freedman’s side of late, is currently discussing a new deal at the club with his current one due to run out this summer.

Talk from within the club was positive, and the 22-year-old confirmed he was planning for a future at the Reebok after being asked about speculation linking him with Premier League Swansea recently.

But the mettle of both player and club looks like being tested with Forest now in the market for a new left-back in the January transfer window.

New boss Alex McLeish has enquired about Southampton’s Danny Fox but may view Alonso’s dwindling contract as a chance to sniff out a bargain.

Alonso has strung together six appearances since returning to the starting line-up in late December.

It is the longest run he has managed since coming to the club for £2million from Real Madrid in July 2010.

But the former Bernabeu youth product claimed a fortnight ago that he was not entertaining thoughts of leaving the club.

“I don’t read anything [about transfer speculation],” he said. “My head is in Bolton and I just want to get back with Bolton to the Premier League.

“As for Swansea, I have not spoken to anyone from the club, and they haven’t told me anything.”

Dougie Freedman has found January a frustrating month so far, and though he has brought in Craig Davies from Barnsley and young midfielder Jan Gregus from Banik Ostrava, he remains on the lookout for two more signings.

The Wanderers boss is waiting for a decision from West Brom on defender Craig Dawson, who is believed to favour a move to the Reebok above several other suitors, including Blackburn Rovers.

A full-back and cover for the recently transferred Martin Petrov are also on the agenda, while efforts to land Crystal Palace midfielder Mile Jedinak have been put on hold for now.

But Freedman revealed he is on the lookout for players with a certain attitude rather than a reputation as a finished article. And that factor is making his search for new blood all the more difficult.

“Managers say it’s very difficult for them to sign players because there’s not a lot of good players out there, which is true, but I think it’s doubly hard for myself and one or two other managers who have got to sign a certain type,” he said.

“The secret right now is out that I'm going to sign players that are maybe not better than the ones I've got but have the potential and the desire to be better.

“That’s hard, to go and sign potential, trying to go and uncover and discover potential and then go and sign it. That’s what I’m trying to do and I believe I’m very close with one or two players out there.”