SWINDON Town are hopeful of landing Jack Stephens in the coming days following the arrival of his Southampton teammate Jordan Turnbull on a season-long youth loan yesterday.

The Advertiser understands the departure of Town academy product Tyreke Johnson to the Premier League club was a factor in the arrival of Turnbull and potential acquisition of Stephens, who spent a successful loan spell at the County Ground towards the end of last season.

Johnson, highly rated in Swindon during his time in the development programme, moved to Saints on a four-year contract this week, with the switch believed to be a makeweight in a deal to bring Turnbull and Stephens to Wiltshire.

However, with Southampton still pursuing defensive targets to fill the void left by the transfer of Dejan Lovren to Liverpool, it appears Town will have to wait a little longer to discover whether or not they will land the centre-back, though the club remain optimistic that he will be a part of the Robins’ squad for their League One campaign, which begins with the visit of Scunthorpe United this afternoon.

Turnbull, one of manager Mark Cooper’s primary targets this summer, was formally announced as a Swindon player yesterday.

The former Swindon Centre of Excellence graduate, whose family is from Trowbridge, moved to St Mary’s in 2007 and has featured for the Saints’ under 21 side in recent seasons. He has been handed the number six shirt at Town for the 2014/15 campaign.

The number five remains vacant, increasing speculation that Stephens is expected to take his place in the squad before the summer transfer window closes at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, reported Town target Malachi Lavelle-Moore was last night revealed to have signed for Macclesfield,after the Adver went to press.

The former Notts County striker, 19, penned a one-year professional contract at Meadow Lane last summer but did not feature for the Magpies in 2013/14.

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