Exclusive, by Tony Dewhurst

IRISH rover Glen Little was poised for a £100,000-plus move to Turf Moor today.

I can reveal that Irish League side Glentoran have agreed to let the 21-year-old move to Burnley and the transfer will be finalised in the next 48 hours.

Clarets manager Adrian Heath thrashed out a deal with opposite number Tommy Cassidy last night and Little is expected to sign for the Clarets before Thursday.

The transfer - first revealed in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph - will be a club record for Glentoran and the deal could be worth up to £150,000 to the Belfast club.

A delighted Heath said: "Glen Little is a very good young player and we are paying for his potential."

Meanwhile, Heath has checked out Darlington's young defender Sean Gregan - a recent target for Lancashire neighbours Wigan and Preston North End.

The 22-year-old, rated in the £300,000 bracket, turned down a £250,000 move to Wigan last month and now Preston and Burnley are both in the hunt.

Gregan said: "Darlington have never stopped trying to sell me from the moment Wigan tried to sign me. I am keen to play in a higher grade of football." Burnley have had Gregan watched on several occasions this season while Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Newcastle have all shown interest. Centre-half Gregan has made nearly 150 appearances for Darlington.

Heath has laughed off reports that Turf Moor's leading marksman Kurt Nogan is on his way to First Division crisis club Manchester City.

A rival newspaper claimed today that Burnley rejected a £500,000 bid for Nogan last week with former Celtic striker Gerry Creaney offered as part of the deal.

But the Burnley boss said: "As far as a cash and a player offer from Manchester City I can categorically deny it.

"The whole thing is news to me. Apparently there was a story in one of the national newspapers linking Kurt with Mancheater City but I certainly haven't heard anything.

"I still have a lot of contacts at Manchester City and I would have thought I'd heard something before now if they were in for Kurt. I've heard nothing."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.