AFC Telford United today appeared to draw a line in the sand on their immediate chase of Tamworth striker Lee Moore.

The Bucks have been desperate to turn a three-month loan period, during which Moore scored eight times, into a permanent deal over the last fortnight.

Extensive talks had been held between the clubs with Telford seeing two bids rejected by the Conference outfit. But Moore is now back with his parent club and appears firmly back in the reckoning at the Lamb.

The 20-year-old was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 2-1 FA Cup second round triumph at Rushden and is due to play some part in tonight’s Staffordshire Senior Cup tie with Rushall Olympic.

Telford’s hopes have also been dealt a blow by Tamworth facing a bumper pay day after securing a Cup third round home draw against Coca-Cola Championship opponents Norwich.

“Obviously we are still monitoring the situation with Lee but Tamworth have made a stance and I can’t see that changing in the short-term,” said assistant manager Larry Chambers.

“Lee was at the club for three months and it was a fruitful period. In an ideal world we would sign him.

“But if we can’t, the squad we have got here is good enough to get on with it and that’s what we will do.

“We are happy with what’s available to us and we will just have a think over the next few days to see if we might want to bring in one more player. But we certainly won’t be signing anyone just for the sake of it.”

Meanwhile, Chambers is refusing to narrow down the race for the UniBond League premier division to a direct battle between Telford and Hednesford.

“A draw is almost as bad as a defeat when there’s only one point available so that gap can soon whittle down,” he said. “Both ourselves and Hednesford have some tough games coming up and the teams in the pack will think if they put a run together they can get right into it.”

By JAMES GARRISON