Perry and Thorley no loan Rangers

Stafford manager Steve Bull is facing up to the news that loan star Tom Thorley will not stay after October 22 - on the same day that Port Vale striker Kyle Perry turned down a move to Marston Road.

Thorley, 18, has been one of the success stories of the season since arriving just before the start of the campaign, a near ever present in the side in their march to the play-off places.

Now it looks as if his time at Rangers will come to an end, until January at the earliest, as under FA rules he will not be able to resign for Rangers on loan until the transfer window reopens.

There is also a problem with that plan - Stoke boss Tony Pulis has expressed an interest in sending the player to a Football League club as the next stage of his development.

Bull said: "If he becomes available again in January, rest assured I will be going in for him. There is nothing we can do about it, its the rules. Tom has loved his time here, so it is disappointing.

"We could have signed him up for the season when we first went in, but we couldn't take that sort of gamble on a player we knew little about. If it had not worked out, we would have been stuck."

Perry, 22, has been pursued by Bully all week, after striker Nick Wellecomme was given an eight-month jail sentence on Monday. The former Chasetown forward, who went to Vale Park in the summer, turned down a loan move today.

Bull said: "I am disapppointed, because Kyle could have been a good player for us. But we press on and now I have to turn to other targets. I am not mad at him.

"If he wants to stay at Port Vale and fight for his place, then fair play to him I say."

The Stafford boss must now look to other targets, with a second-choice already earmarked from when the Perry move was made.

Better news for Rangers is that their other loan star from Stoke, winger Jimmy Phillips, has extended his loan terms. He was originally due back at the Brittania Stadium over the next couple of weeks, but will now remain at Marston Road until December.