United manager Alex Smith has targeted Bradford City striker Dean Saunders as he looks for an answer to his goalscoring problems. Smith has been desperately searching for someone to drag the Tannadice club out of their relegation troubles. The United manager is believed to have been in contact with Bradford’s new manager Jim Jefferies, who recently quit Hearts, to enquire about the availability of the player. Saunders is currently out of favour at Valley Parade, with Stan Collymore, Benito Carbone and now-fit Dean Windass battling it out for the striking berths.

But that could change, now Jefferies has taken over the managerial reins at the relegation-threatened Premiership club. Smith would want to take the Wales international striker on loan until the end of the season and hope he can produce the goals needed to hoist them away from the foot of the table. It is not the first time that United have chased the signature of the prolific scorer, Saunders having consistently found the net for each of his 11 senior clubs. The 36-year-old was the subject of a near-£3 million move to Liverpool from Derby in 1991, and he cost Aston Villa £2.3m just over a year later. Saunders moved on to Turkish club Galatasaray five years ago and has since served both Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and now Bradford. One of the possible stumbling blocks to the Tangerines’ bid to lure Saunders into the SPL could be his wages, understood to be in the region of around £15,000-a-week at Valley Parade.

Jefferies may choose to block any moves from the relegation-threatened club until after he has assessed his playing staff. Smith, who has already lured Charlie Miller, Jamie Fullarton, and Argentine Beto Neveda to Tannadice in recent weeks, was last night reluctant to name Saunders as his target. He admitted, however: "I can confirm I have reached an agreement with an English club on a loan deal. It’s now up to the player concerned." The United boss confirmed that his latest bid will not be his last, with his search for an effective winger remaining a priority. On the injury front, skipper Jason de Vos has recovered from his knee ligament scare and he will be back in contention for a place against Dunfermline on Saturday. ©The Scotsman