Obiang form bad news for Irons hopeful

Pedro Obiang has staked a massive claim to become part of a regular midfield involving Mark Noble and Cheik Kouyate.

And that’s very bad news for contract-chasing Alex Song whose hopes of landing a permanent end of season deal are now rated at less than 50/50 by a number of Irons insiders.

The loanee returned to the team from injury in November and has since been involved in 12 games either as a starting player or sub.

He has failed to recapture the form seen when he first arrived at the club and key insiders now believe that a permanent deal is not a serious option.

One told ClaretandHugh: “It hasn’t happened for Alex whilst Pedro has impressed more and more over recent weeks, notably against Liverpool in the Cup replay when he was outstanding.

“There’s now a very strong feeling that he should get a real chance at an extended run and that of course is bad news for Alex. If we are brutally honest his chance may not be as good as even money.”