Wolves have made a substantial bid for Hull winger Stephen Hunt and are hopeful of prising him from one of their Premier League survival rivals.

The size of the offer is understood to be less than the £5m the Tigers were reported to have paid Reading for the 28-year-old in the summer, but Wolves believe it could be enough to persuade the cash-strapped club to part with their prize asset.

Boss Phil Brown, publicly at least, remains confident of keeping the Republic of Ireland international but may be forced to accept defeat in his bid to keep his best player, who has scored five goals this season.

The player is believed to considering his future, with Wolves hoping the familiarity of their Irish and Reading connections could help.

Both Kevin Doyle and Marcus Hahnemann played with him for several years at Reading, while Doyle, Kevin Foley and Andy Keogh know Hunt through playing for Ireland.

Selling Hunt would ease Hull’s financial worries, with the club needing to lose £8m to £9m from their wage bill.

The Tigers’ public stance is understandable, given that cashing in on their prize assets to one of their survival rivals would be seen as suicidal by their fans, and Brown remains bullish.

He said: “Stephen, as far as myself and the chairman are concerned, will be going nowhere.

Wolves are also weighing up whether to step up their interest in Villa midfielder Craig Gardner with a bid.

But Guinean winger Fode Mansare remains hopeful of resurrecting his move to Molineux. The 28-year-old was set to spend this week on trial, but plans had to be scrapped because of the big freeze.

By TIM NASH