Barnsley could cup-tie Craig Davies

With the deal to bring Craig Davies to Bolton Wanderers from Barnsley not yet completed, there is the very real chance that the forward could play for the Tykes in the FA Cup. All reports say that Barnsley have accepted Bolton's offer of £300,000 (which triggered the buy-out clause in Davies' contract) but the deal is not yet done. That is, that despite the fact that the transfer fee seems to be agreed on, the finer details between the club and player have not yet been worked out.

Now there is the development that Barnsley could run Craig Davies out in the FA Cup Third Round on Saturday against Championship rivals Burnley. The Tykes' caretaker manager, David Flitcroft, is taking charge of his second game since Barnsley fired their manager, Keith Hill, a couple of weeks ago. Flitcroft was quoted by Sky Sports discussing the Davies situation:

"If he is switched on and his attitude is good then he could be involved, if not he won't be.

"The deal has not been done. Why not? I don't know. Whether the personal terms are not right I'm not sure.

"If something is not right it has possibly alerted other clubs. What I do know is that if Davo is switched on he will be involved because he's still employed by us.

"His focus has possibly been somewhere else, it's not a matter of lack of effort. Sometimes when it's at the back of your mind, then the focus probably isn't what it should have been."

Of course, if Bolton don't beat Sunderland at the Reebok tomorrow, it doesn't really matter.