Ian Holloway: 'I'm not trying to sign Joey Barton'

Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has rubbished speculation that he is hoping to sign Joey Barton on a loan basis from Queens Park Rangers.

Recent reports had claimed that Holloway had made the midfielder is number one transfer target, despite the fact that he is suspended for the first 12 games of the new season.

However, Holloway has insisted that he is not currently looking to boost his midfield options.

"I haven't got a clue where the Joey Barton rumours came from," Holloway told the Blackpool Gazette. "I can't sign someone who I couldn't pick for 12 matches.

"If you look at the central midfield players I have, that's not the area I need players. I need strikers. Joey's a great lad but I don't know where that talk came from."

Barton has also been linked with League Two side Fleetwood.