Colchester United boss Steve Whitton has made a bold bid to bring £2.25 million star Lomana Tresor Lua Lua back to Layer Road for the rest of the season.

Whitton, under fire following a sequence of poor results, revealed today (Friday) he has contacted Lua Lua's new club Newcastle United with a view to bringing the 20-year-old crowd-pleaser back on loan for the U's remaining 12 Division Two games.

The U's boss said: "The chairman and I only decided on the move last night and I contacted Newcastle's Director of Football Gordon Milne, my old boss at Coventry City, to see if we could get Lomana back for the rest of the season.

"Unfortunately, Newcastle manager Bobby Robson has so far been unavailable to give us an answer.

"If a deal is done I don't think it will be in time for Lomana to play at Walsall tomorrow."

U's Chief Executive Marie Partner added: "It will be a real coup if we can pull it off. We know Lomana loved playing for us while he was here. He was a big hit with the fans and he has made it clear he loves Colchester."

Colchester are hoping an arrangement can be made regarding the two clubs sharing the cost of wages believed to be in the region of £5,000 to £6,000 per week.

Lua Lua, who was transferred for a new U's record fee last September, has so far failed to score in any of his appearances for the Magpies in the Premiership.

Meanwhile, Whitton, stung by boos from the fans after Wednesday's disappointing home defeat by fellow Division Two strugglers Port Vale, is desperate to get the U's back to winning ways.

As he prepared for yet another tough away trip to Walsall, the U's boss said: "No-one wants to win more than me and my players.

"We know how the supporters feel and we want to do well for those fans. All the players here at the moment are good enough to keep us in the Second Division and I'm not going to make excuses for them.

"I want to see more character in the side. We've got to produce the goods week in, week out, and not just once in a while.

"A lot of the players are fighting for new contracts next season and we've all got to come through this together and put things right."

Skipper Simon Clark will be missing from the U's line-up at Walsall because of a one-match suspension.

Return of the prodigal? Lomana Tresor Lua Lua (left) may yet pull on a Colchester United shirt this season

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.