UCD boss Collie O'Neill says 'paperwork' holding up Liam Scales' Bristol Rovers move

UCD boss Collie O’Neill says bureaucracy is all that’s holding back defender Liam Scales’ move to English League One side Bristol Rovers.

There were reports in England during the week that interest from Fleetwood Town and Portsmouth had put a spanner in the Wicklow man’s plans to join the Pirates.

However Students manager O’Neill is so confident the defender will soon be a Bristol Rovers player that he’s effectively discounted him from his plans.

Scales remains a UCD player but has been marked absent since the 5-1 defeat at Sligo Rovers on the first day of the month, and the Students have taken seven points from nine since.

He flew to Bristol the day before the league win over Finn Harps, which ended a run of 12 straight league defeats, but progress has been slow since.

21-year-old Scales with join Conor Davis, Neil Farrugia and Gary O’Neill, who scored Shamrock Rovers’ Europa League winner against Brann on Thursday, in leaving the club this summer.

“It’s still caught in paperwork,” O’Neill told extratime.ie.

“It’s just waiting on contracts to come through, be signed, and the next bit to be done. As far as I’m concerned, he’s left. I think it’s just going to be Bristol Rovers.”

O’Neill has brought in just one outside player in the window so far, signing Jack Keaney on a scholarship from Sligo, and Liam Kerrigan will join from the same club at the end of the month.

Keaney had a clause in his Sligo contract that allowed him to leave immediately to take up a place in college, however no such provision exists in Kerrigan’s case, so the decision is in Sligo’s hands.

“Whereas Jack had it in his contract to be released for college, Liam doesn’t. We’re at the mercy of Sligo and it’s up to them whether they want to release him or not. We’re completely at their mercy.”

In further good news, O’Neill is confident that left-back Evan Osam may return to action earlier than expected and play some part before the end of the season.

The former Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne defender tore his achilles tendon a week before the season began and was expected to miss the whole year, but O’Neill confirmed he’s back in light training.

“Evan Osam returned to training on Saturday morning. He’s back on the pitch doing light jogging. That’s a positive. We’re hoping he might be able to make some games before the end of the season.”