WANDERERS insist that the capture of Northampton Town striker Scott McGleish does not mean they are preparing to sell top scorer Jermaine Easter before the transfer window closes.

McGleish joined the club last week for a fee, believed to be around £80,000, sparking fears that Easter, who was called into the Welsh squad for the first time on Friday, will be flogged to the highest bidder.

Premiership trio Blackburn, Manchester City and Watford are all reportedly interested in the 25-year-old who has scored 20 times already this season and attracted one bid from Romania.

And fans' fears that he could be sold off increased when Easter was subbed off at half time during Saturday's 2-0 league defeat at his old club Stockport County.

But the Blues insist they were not taking the £800,000 rated hitman off to protect him for someone else.

They maintain that McGleish has come in to help take the burden off Easter and Tommy Mooney and not to replace anyone.

Assistant manager Steve Brown said: "We learned a massive lesson last year when we let Nathan Tyson join Nottingham Forest. We missed his goals and his pace and we are not going to make the same mistake twice."

Wanderers have already lost one key member of the squad which took them to the Carling Cup semi-finals this year with Kevin Betsy opting to join Bristol City in a £150,000 switch less than 48 hours after the Blues came off the pitch at Chelsea.

Brown said: "We've had a wonderful cup run, that's finished now and now we're trying to get out of this division. I don't foresee anyone going before the transfer window closes."

Wanderers started with all three strikers in harness at Edgeley Park at the weekend and if they can keep Mooney, McGleish and Easter together they will have the most prolific strike force around.

McGleish has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Blues. He was Northampton's top scorer with 11 goals when Wanderers beat off competition from League One Millwall to persuade him to step down a division and join their promotion fight.

Brown said: "Scott will be a very good signing for this club. He has always scored goals at this level and where ever he's been.

"We knew that we lacked another goalscorer this time last season. Now we have gone in and got a proven one and that will take some of the pressure off the two who have scored goals."