BURNLEY'S chase for Manchester City striker Gareth Taylor could go to the wire as City look to cash in on their out-of-favour front man.

Taylor is out of contract and free to leave Maine Road in the summer and so City's last chance of pulling in a transfer fee comes with tomorrow's transfer deadline.

The Clarets are keen to extend the player's loan spell at Turf Moor and may be interested in a more permanent deal under the Bosman ruling.

However, they would want to avoid paying a fee and possibly committing themselves at this stage so the game of cat-and-mouse over Taylor's future may go right until the 5pm deadline tomorrow.

Boss Stan Ternent said: "Manchester City want to sell him and I want to extend his loan. He will be the one I would sign on another month's loan. I still don't know what's happening with that one and it will probably be Thursday when I know."

Despite concerns over the future of the transfer system, Ternent has offers in for other targets with highly-rated Bournemouth defender Eddie Howe still thought to be in his plans after failing to agree a price for the former England under-21 last month.

But whether any deals come off before the summer sales remain to be seen.

The manager added: "I have one or two irons in the fire. But to be honest the way things are at the moment we are in a position of safety and I would have to justify whether I could afford to take more players on my wage bill right now. The only way I could justify that would be by going for a play-off place."

"I don't know if we would be capable of doing that but I will see. There are some players I have in my mind and I have offers in, but we will see."

Ternent is committed to a partial re-structuring of his squad ready for next season when a sustained play-off challenge will be the target.

He admits that a lack of strength in depth cost Burnley the chance of a top-six finish this time around.

And the manager's transfer kitty will again be crucial in the next phase of the Clarets' development. Ternent said: "I need to speak to the chairman and the board and then when I have my budget for next year I will know where I'm up to, whether it be million-pound signings or free transfers, a bit of both or neither.

"It depends on the budget but as far as the recruitment and looking at players is concerned that's on-going and it's always there.

"I know exactly what I want but whether I can afford them or not is another thing."

He added: "It's a tough league and a lot of teams are trying really hard. It's a difficult league and it's an expensive league for players and so on. I would like to crack on and will certainly be trying for a top-six position, but that will depend entirely where the chairman and the board can afford to go. The financial implications play a big part in the success of football clubs."

In the shorter term, Ternent insists that his side still has plenty to play for and he is backing his players to bounce back from Saturday's defeat at Sheffield Wednesday with a positive showing against struggling Queens Park Rangers at Turf Moor this weekend.

He confirmed that he hopes to have Graham Branch (thigh) and Paul Cook (ankle) available but Lee Briscoe is out with a hamstring injury and Ian Cox misses the game because of World Cup duty with Trinidad and Tobago.