City are ready to open talks with Juanjo.

The Hearts winger is out of contract at the end of the month and Jim Jefferies is hopeful of bringing him to Valley Parade.

But he faces competition both north and south of the border for the 24-year-old Spaniard he took from Barcelona in 1998.

Jefferies said: "It's far from a done deal but we are planning to have talks with him.

"There are a number of clubs trying to get his signature but I've worked with him at Hearts and hopefully can bring him in.

"He's an off the cuff player who's got a wee spark and can be terrific on the ball."

Juanjo played in the Edinburgh derby on Sunday which Hibernian won 2-1 but most of his appearances have been from the bench.

Jefferies added: "I delayed him until he got to grips with his game but he's an exciting player who has done very well for Hearts. He's got pace and he is a younger type of player which we need."

Juanjo, who made one appearance for Barcelona when Bobby Robson was in charge, would be City's first signing since Benito Carbone joined Derby on loan five days ago.

The Italian's departure will save the club around £500,000 in wages over the next three months.

Chairman Geoffrey Richmond said: "All the Carbone loan does is bring us back into line with our £7.5m wages budget.

"Not withstanding that, I can confirm that myself and Jim will be meeting a player and his agent on Thursday for serious negotiations with a view to making a signing."

Jefferies had a clear-the-air meeting with the players at their Midlands hotel yesterday to try to restore morale.

He said: "We had a talk with them about getting the basics right again. We just feel at the moment they aren't passing the ball well enough, not pressing and not marking as tightly as we should be.

"It's about picking themselves up and helping each other to get out of this run. Confidence goes with bad results like we have had but it's a tight league and you can quickly get back into the frame."

Gareth Whalley and Stuart McCall have both recovered from knocks which prevented them from training on Sunday.