Peterborough United’s pursuit of striker held up by injury concerns, several other targets at higher level clubs have been identified, two bids have been made, reports Posh are ready to offload three high profile players are believed to be false

Callum Morton is mobbed after scoring for Northampton Town in the League Two play-off final at Wembley in 2020. Photo: Dave Rogers, Getty Images.

Morton, who was recalled from his loan at League One Fleetwood on Saturday (January 8), hasn’t played since December 11 after injuring his hamstring and Posh want to make sure he is fully healed before taking the 21 year-old on loan until the end of the season.

That is unlikely to happen before Posh tackle Coventry City in their next Championship fixture at the Weston Homes Stadium on January 15 and the following week (January 22) Posh are at West Brom so Morton would be ineligible to play.

Posh are hoping he would be available for the rearranged trip to Birmingham City on Tuesday, January 25, but they won’t take him unless he is has been fit enough to train ahead of that game.

Siriki Dembele of Peterborough United battles with Paul Coutts of Bristol Rovers in Saturday's FA Cup tie. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Morton’s all-action style of play has been likened to Posh legend Craig Mackail-Smith, but injuries have blighted his recent career. He missed a big chunk of last season when on loan at Lincoln after requiring surgery on a pectoral injury.

Posh have lodged two bids for potential signings. All their other targets would be loan signings from higher level clubs, a couple of whom have started playing in first-team matches because of Covid ripping through many Premier League squads.

Yesterday’s Sun newspaper (January 9) claims Posh are ready to offload Jonson Clarke-Harris, Siriki Dembele and Mark Beevers this month, but this is an exaggeration of the truth.

Centre-back Beevers has attracted some attention from League One clubs including Sheffield Wednesday. Wednesday would be of interest to Beevers, especially as he lives in Barnsley.

But Posh are not touting Clarke-Harris and Dembele to other clubs. Dembele is on the transfer list and could leave Posh for nothing in the summer when his current contract expires, but club officials have always said he would only leave in January for a considerable fee and that figure has not been reached and is unlikely to be reached. The club are mindful Dembele’s departure would be a hammer blow to the chances of surviving in the Championship.

Posh are happy to keep Clarke-Harris and Sammie Szmodics because of their goalscoring records in League One should relegation be the outcome of this season.