Bruce doesn't see Koumas leaving

The former Tranmere midfielder has been out-of-favour since the arrival of Bruce and has been limited to only a few substitute appearances. He has been subject of interest from both Blackburn and Celtic but Bruce is happy with his squad. He said: "I keep reading the stories about Jason - there seems to be something in the papers every day.

"But I haven't heard anything from any other club, and I don't envisage anyone going out. I don't really want to sell anyone. The squad has a nice balance about it now we've got Erik Edman. When he is ready to play, it gives us the option of moving Kevin Kilbane up the pitch, which will be a big help to us."

Although one move that may go through is the loan move of Carlo Nash to Preston. Bruce added: "Ideally I'd like to send Carlo out on loan. If Preston contact us I'd certainly look at that."