Tangerine dream or Wolves nightmare for Jamie O'Hara
Jamie O'Hara was today warned there will be no easy way back at Wolves if his trial at Blackpool backfires as Kenny Jackett declared he's found his ideal middle men.
The £5m midfielder joined Paul Ince's Championship high-flyers yesterday as he tries to win a temporary stint until January before Thursday's 5pm loan window deadline.
O'Hara initially arrived at Blackpool on Friday, only for QPR to contact him to entice him to Loftus Road. He was in talks with the Tangerines before a proposed loan move with the west Londoners broke down.
Head coach Jackett finally believes he has found his best central midfield partnership in Dave Edwards and Kevin McDonald, meaning O'Hara could find it harder to regain a place at Molineux if Ince's gamble fails.
"He's asked me 'if I'm not in your plans and not going to play, can I have a few days there?'" said Jackett. "We talked with the board and felt we wanted to pursue it.
"Kevin Thelwell (Wolves' head of football development) will be in touch with Blackpool to see if they want to take him on loan before the window closes on Thursday. If it doesn't work out, he'll be back here training on Thursday.
"He'd need to earn his chance here, which would be if the midfield doesn't look right or we need another player in that area.
"But the most important thing is he performs to his capabilities."
O'Hara's four-month exile ended when he made two substitute's appearances against Stevenage and Carlisle. But the boss has since said the 27-year-old lacks fitness.
Jackett now feels Edwards and McDonald are his best central midfield pairing as they prepare to do battle tonight at home to Tranmere after they impressed in Saturday's 0-0 draw against Brentford.
"We did well in midfield on Saturday – we probably had control of that area," he said.
"It was probably our best midfield performance, combination-wise. They played well and Dave brought a lot to the team. He looked comfortable, added experience and he made very good decisions. Dave and Kevin are experienced and can score and we've talked about trying to share it around a bit."
Jackett insisted young midfielders David Davis, 22, Lee Evans, 19 and 20-year-old Jack Price will continue to get games. "If they're going to reach their potential, they need those league games," he said.