Neil Lennon admits Celtic were 'gazumped' in pursuit of Ben Davies

Everton right-back Jonjoe Kenny is poised to sign a loan deal with Celtic after the Scottish champions were gazumped by Liverpool in their pursuit of Preston defender Ben Davies.

Kenny, 23, has made 48 appearances for Everton and comes in as a short-term replacement for Jeremie Frimpong, who left for Bayer Leverkusen last week.

Manager Neil Lennon said: "We just need the paperwork to be finished. He has been in the building, he travelled up last night, so hopefully we can get that signed and sealed this afternoon.

"He's a player I have liked for a while. He is at Everton obviously and had a very good career at England youth at under-21 level and I watched quite a bit of him last season when he was on loan at Schalke.

"I like his qualities, his enthusiasm for the game, his character, and I think he will bring that to the team. He is a bubbly sort of personality and he plays that way as well.''

Celtic had hoped to complete a pre-contract deal for centre-back Davies but Liverpool saw an offer for the 25-year-old accepted by Preston on Sunday.

"It's a blow because we were very close to doing that and obviously we got gazumped at the last minute by Liverpool,'' Lennon said.

"He lives in that area and I'm sure financially it would have been quite rewarding for him as well, so disappointed but we move on. It is not the first time it has happened to us or myself as a manager.''

Lennon confirmed Celtic were looking at other options including Tottenham defender Japhet Tanganga while French midfielder Olivier Ntcham is in talks with Marseille over a loan move.

"I think he is looking for a fresh start, or to progress his career elsewhere, and he has made that clear over a long period of time,'' Lennon said.

Rangers could speed up moves for two pre-contract signings, Bournemouth defender Jack Simpson and Aberdeen attacker Scott Wright, while George Edmundson could be on his way to Derby on loan.

The Dons sold Sam Cosgrove to Birmingham on Sunday and are expected to bring in Scotland Under-21s forward Fraser Hornby on loan from Stade de Reims.

Both Kevin Nisbet and Ryan Porteous trained with Hibernian on Monday after the club rejected bids from Birmingham and Millwall respectively last week.

Head coach Jack Ross was unaware if Birmingham had launched a fresh bid on Sunday, adding: "I've not been informed otherwise over the last 24 or 36 hours, other people at the club would probably answer that better than me.

"But from the football side of it, he trained this morning and, as things stand, will be with me tomorrow evening for the game at St Mirren.''

Stevie Mallan is in Turkey to sign a loan deal with Super Lig side Malatyaspor.

Ross said: "I think he has now completed all his necessary medicals and as I understand it, I think it's just subject to international clearance.''

Livingston are close to signing a foreign player on loan in what would be their last piece of business of the transfer window.

Manager David Martindale said: "I'm trying to get one in the door and it's ongoing. We haven't had any phone calls about our players.''

Midfielder Robbie Crawford earlier ended his Livingston career by making a loan move to Motherwell a permanent switch until the end of the season. Fir Park chief executive Alan Burrows earlier stated that they were hoping to "add one or two before midnight''.

Dundee United defender Lewis Neilson has been linked with a switch to Leicester.

Hamilton could see a frustrating month fizzle out without a signing but St Johnstone hope to be busy.

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin is looking for one more signing.

"We are working on one or two things,'' he said. "It's not the end of the world if we don't get one in but I do think we need a little bit more cover in the back line, a left-sided defender preferably because we lack a little bit of balance at times.''

Kilmarnock are still looking to push through some late deals despite parting company with manager Alex Dyer on Saturday.

Head of football operations James Fowler said: "We were looking to add one or two players anyway before the manager left. That process has continued.''

Ross County boss John Hughes does not expect to be busy despite Ross Stewart's departure to Sunderland on Sunday.

"I think we have done our business,'' he said. "There's one or two things on the go but it is just basically us making enquiries and we've never heard anything back and that's it.''

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