Wolves are ready to pounce if the Magpies fail to land gold in the form of Leeds United want-away striker Jermaine Beckford.

Reports indicate that Newcastle United has a £1M+ bid turned down last week following the FA Cup hero’s transfer request. He is out of contract in the summer and Leeds could be ready to part with their star asset to avoid him leaving for nothing and with 74 goals in a little under 130 games, Wanderers boss Mick McCarthy could be tempted to try to land the 26 year-old forward.

Wolves keeper Marcus Hahnemann has been looking beyond the ’big freeze’ and towards a potentially hot summer in South Africa. The 37 year-old American has a real chance of making the USA squad and whilst he will be behind Everton’s Tim Howard and the current US number two Brad Guzan, the retirement from international football of Aston Villa number one Brad Freidel means that he is likely to be on the plane. “Hopefully I can sneak in there. With me playing and doing pretty well, maybe there’s a chance“ said Hahnemann. “With Tim having started 95 per cent of the games in the last couple of years, it’s probably between me and Brad for the second and third choices. But there are some good keepers. There’s a guy in Norway and guys back in the States, so we have some keepers.”