Three clubs chasing Bothroyd

Wolves striker Jay Bothroyd is the subject of a three-way tug of war between Stoke, Cardiff and Nottingham Forest.

The 26-year-old has quickly attracted interest after being one of seven players made available by boss Mick McCarthy at the end of the season.

Bothroyd finished the season at promoted Stoke, playing four League games, but only one of those was a start. But he made enough of an impression on boss Tony Pulis to register an interest.

FA Cup finalists Cardiff have also made their interest known, with Bluebirds’ former Wolves boss Dave Jones desperately short of firepower.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has played his last game for the club, while Robbie Fowler has been plagued by injury.

Nottingham Forest, who are the Championship new boys following their promotion from League One, appear to represent Bothroyd’s best chance of regular football.

Bothroyd has made 32 Legaue starts for Wolves, plus a further 23 appearances coming off the bench, scoring 12 goals, with a modest record of 13 in 70 in all competitions since signing on a free transfer from Charlton two years ago.

For the time being at least, the much-travelled former Arsenal trainee is prepared to stick at things at Molineux and he insisted he had no hard feelings.

“It’s a squad game and the manager decided to change things, so that’s fair enough,” said Bothroyd.

“Everyone wants to play, everyone wants to start. I’ve been a bit gutted not to play, but you can’t let it affect you.”