Sunderland will host League One rivals Fleetwood Town at the Stadium of Light, after Joey Barton beat them to Barrie McKay.
Phil Parkinson has admitted to the Echo that he was keen to sign the ‘very talented’ Barrie McKay for Sunderland during the January transfer window.
Ahead of an enthralling battle between two of League One’s most in-form sides on Tuesday night, the presence of a former Rangers winger on the Fleetwood Town team-sheet adds an intriguing subplot to proceedings.
Cod Army boss Joey Barton, a man never shy in coming forward, claimed to the Gazette earlier this month that Sunderland made an eleventh hour bid to snatch McKay away from their third-tier rivals during the January transfer window.
And Parkinson was in no mood to play dumb ahead of tonight’s promotion battle at the Stadium of Light.
“Barrie was one of a number we spoke to,” said the former Bolton Wanderers boss, who was able to get a deal over the line for Bristol City’s Antoine Semenyo instead.
“Barrie’s a good player, a very talented player, but with Antoine the fans have already seen that he gives us something that bit different with his power and pace.”
The £500,000 Scot joined Fleetwood on loan from Swansea City and is already producing the kind of performances under Barton that once made him the toast of Ibrox, helping Fleetwood win each of their last four League One matches.
If he had gone to Sunderland instead, however, a first-team role would not have been easy to obtain. Especially with Lyndon Gooch and the majestic Chris Maguire playing their best football of the season since the turn of the year.
Semenyo, after all, has featured for just 48 minutes across five league games since joining Sunderland.
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