Harper Heads Back To The Potteries

Plagued with a calf problem for the last four weeks Harper has ended his three-month loan spell with the Blues before his last scheduled match, at home to Crewe this weekend. The 30-year old suffered the injury in the warm-up prior to kick-off in United's disastrous 5-0 hammering at Swansea City on the 16th of December and hasn't been seen wearing a blue shirt since.

The early signs looked very promising though with Harper making his United debut in the 1-0 home win over Tranmere in late October, the one-time Scotland under-21 international also picking up the man-of-the-match award in the 1-1 draw against Rotherham at Brunton Park on Bonfire Night Eve. Eight starts in total saw Harper make a good impact with the Cumbrians, especially at home, where his electric pace saw him cross plenty of ammunition into the opposition penalty area.

Kevin's contract is up at Stoke City at the end of the season and it will be interesting to see what noises come out of both Brunton Park and the Britannia Stadium later in the campaign as far as the Oldham-born midfielder moving back up to Cumbria, and closer to his Edinburgh base, in the summer is concerned. Harper's departure leaves the Blues once more looking for some pace down one of the flanks, with Simon Hackney sidelined for at least three months longer after his knee operation in December.


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