Lightbourne back to the club where he made his name.

The English Second Division side approached league rivals, Stoke City, with a view to taking the transfer-listed frontman away from the Britannia Stadium but were rebuffed.

Lightbourne is currently on loan at Third Division Cardiff City having been placed on the transfer list by Stoke shortly before Christmas.

The player became surplus to requirements in the Potteries and had an unsuccessful stint at Swindon Town prior to his temporary switch to the Welsh side.

Cardiff are second in their division and beat Shrewsbury 4-0 on Tuesday night.

However, Lightbourne did not figure in the game, being one of the unused substitutes.

He started games towards the beginning of his loan move, but the return from suspension of regular striker Leo Fortune-West, a player indentical in style to the Bermudian, has meant he has had to settle for a bit part recently. He has yet to open his goal account.

The transfer deadline for English clubs is fast approaching and Cardiff boss Bobby Gould will have to make a decision whether to take Lightbourne on permanently or send him back to Stoke.

Although he started out at Scarborough, Lightbourne first came to prominence at Walsall, a small club located just outside Birmingham.

His goalscoring exploits made him a hero at the Bescot Stadium and led to him making a big-money move to Premier League Coventry City.

That transfer never really paid off and he moved to Stoke City shortly after.

Walsall boss Ray Graydon previously denied to The Royal Gazette that he would be interested in taking Lightbourne back.

But that stance has since changed.

However, despite being keen to link up once again with the player who scored 65 goals in 165 appearances, Graydon believes it is a non-starter.

Stoke and Walsall are both vying for promotion and it would be strange for a club to sell a striker to their rivals who might end up making the difference between going up or remaining in the same league.

"I have been trying to bring in players for a long time, with great difficulty,'' Graydon said. "It can be money, players not wanting to come or drop down a league, or other clubs not wanting you to have their players.

"In the case of somebody like Kyle, Stoke would not allow him to come here and you can't blame teams for that. They have to look after themselves.'' Kyle Lightbourne: The former Walsall striker won't be returning to his old club.