Having enjoyed a relatively positive loan spell at the club last season, it appears that Hartlepool United are once again keen on taking Ryan Noble from us once again.
The side, who recently beat us in a friendly, take on Newcastle tonight and speaking ahead of the game their boss Neale Cooper once again reiterated his interest in bringing Noble back to the club;
There is no secret I still like Ryan Noble at Sunderland. He has been featuring in the first team there in preseason, and great for him to be able to do that.
But if he isn't come the start then I think he would love playing alongside Stevie (Howard).
While Noble is seeing action here and there for the club, it remains to be seen how close he is to the starting first team picture in two weeks time. At the moment is seems he's very much behind Fraizer Campbell and Connor Wickham. In the recent friendly with Helsingborgs, Craig Gardner was preferred in an advanced position to Noble too.
His impressive goal against Groningen doesn't seem to have pushed him any further up Martin O'Neill's pecking order, although the gaffer has been keen to point out that he's keen on the young forward;
He knows in a physical sense he needs to get stronger, and hold the ball up better, but he knows where the net is and continues to improve in his game.
Obviously he's a talent, and a loan spell with regular football is probably for the best at this stage. He'd just be pushed further down the pecking order if Steven Fletcher and/or John Guidetti arrive, as has been heavily speculated as of late.