Leeds United and Bolton Wanderers have agreed that his loan spell at Elland Road can be extended until the start of 2011, but what are the chances of Leeds converting this into a permanent transfer?

The 31-year-old central defender was due to return to the Reebok stadium after Saturday's game at Reading, but will now stay at Elland Road until 4 January. And we’ll have to hope that we can keep hold of him for a while longer, as we’re unbeaten in the five games he’s played in and his form has been impressive to say the least.

He arrived in the wake of the 4-0 drubbing at home to Cardiff, which was the latest in a series of defensive disasters and left Grayson facing something of a crisis as we dropped to 16^th. in the league, but Paul Connolly  has told the Bradford Telegraph and Argus that the defenders are now feeling much more comfortable, even though it’s a while since we last kept a clean sheet.

"Partnerships are starting to gel and the team looks more settled now. You can't stop people swerving free-kicks into the top corner, but hopefully things will turn for us and we will start keeping shut-outs.  We are very pleased to have taken 11 points from the last 15. It is a great return which has significantly moved us up the league.”

So it’s looking especially important that we can hold onto O’Brien, and it could be significant that the extension to his loan deal will now keep him at Leeds until the transfer window opens in January. Bolton recently announced that they will have to trim their wage bill in the face of mounting debts, so they may be willing to do a deal to sell him to Elland Road on a permanent basis. We can but hope that the two clubs are thinking along these lines, because we can’t go back to conceding goals in that way that we were.

Photo: Action Images

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