Could U`s Join Fagan Race?

Colchester United could tempt Craig Fagan back on loan in the week that recent signing Izale McLeod suffered an injury.

The striker is linked with Hull by the BBC after Phil Brown admitted negations were advanced but it is known that Fagan still visits East Anglia regularly and could choose to help the U`s win their relegation battle by re-signing.

Fagan left Hull in January 2007 and was previously at Colchester United. The U`s were a League One club at the time of his departure.

It is more probable that Fagan will return to Hull than Colchester, but given that the U`s need a player who can operate either wide or through the middle, the 26 year-old could be an ideal option, especially since he recently stated his desire to prove himself at Derby in the long-term.

The matter is pressing, given Colchester’s league placing and the loss of Charlton loanee McLoed after Tueday’s loss to Plymouth, but Craig might prefer a short-term deal with Colchester if his loyalities lay with Derby.

Fagan was harshly described in the Times as “a winger with an empty box of tricks” following County`s defeat to champions Manchester United, but scored 24 times in 82 games while at Layer Road.

He remains a popular figure in Essex and could be a target because manager Geraint Williams, formally number two when Fagan last played in stripes, is notoriously coy about his transfer ambitions.

The attraction of joining Hull City instead would be that Fagan could link up with former U`s team-mates Richard Garcia and Wayne Brown – the Tigers play-off desire also swings the argument in their favour.