BOLTON Wanderers stayed tight-lipped today despite increasing speculation that Nathan Blake could be a Coventry player by the weekend. Officials at the Reebok refused to make any comment on reports that they have accepted a bid from the Sky Blues for the Welsh international striker.

One report in the Midlands quotes Coventry chairman Bryan Richardson as saying Blake was "one of three possibilities" while sources close to the club suggest the Reebok ace is the man manager Gordon Strachan has targeted to replace wantaway Dion Dublin.

The England striker appeared to be destined for a £6.75 million move to Blackburn Rovers yesterday but the waters have been muddied by counter-bids from Aston Villa and Newcastle. That has led to Dublin's advisers threatening legal action over Coventry's failure to abide by a clause in his contract that allows him to speak to any club offering more than £5 million.

Richardson, confident that the deal with Blackburn will go through, confirmed that he already has a replacement in the frame.

Significantly, having flatly denied a string of names that have been put to him over the past 24 hours, the Coventry boss neither denied nor confirmed that Blake was the man when he suggested a deal was imminent. "We are still hopeful we will have a new player in time for Saturday!" Richardson said.

"We have agreed a fee with another club and it is now up to us to complete that."

Despite the refusal of the two clubs to comment on the matter, there was a whiff of transfer activity in the Bolton air today with increasing speculation that Blake might have moved on before Sunday's Reebok showdown with Sunderland!

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