Martyn Waghorn is looking forward to starting afresh with Leicester after claiming he wasn’t given a chance at boyhood club Sunderland.

The 20-year-old striker joined the Foxes in a £3million deal on transfer deadline day last week, returning to the club where he finished as 12-goal top scorer at the end of a season-long loan spell last term which saw the Championship side reach the play-off semi-finals.

Waghorn was keen to put that first-team experience to good use when he returned to Wearside, but instead the arrivals of Danny Welbeck and Asamoah Gyan have seen him slip further down the pecking order than ever.

And that meant he jumped at the chance to rejoin Leicester, this time on a permanent basis.

“It wasn’t that much of a wrench having to leave,” the South Shields-born frontman told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle. “It was just sad they didn’t give me a chance and I didn’t get a fair crack of the whip.

“It was sad to be leaving after 13 years at the club but it has happened and I have to move on now. That’s football.

“I am at Leicester now and I’m there for the next four years, so hopefully I can do a job for the club. Steve Bruce called me and told me what was going on so it was nice to get that phone call.

“It is nice to have heard that the fans cared – it is a shame I didn’t get to show them an awful lot.”

West Brom are in a much better position to avoid relegation than they were two years ago, according to striker Marc-Antoine Fortune.

Fortune was on loan at The Hawthorns during their disappointing 2008/09 season in the top flight, but returned to the club in a permanent deal last Friday.

He said that the team stood a better chance of avoiding relegation this time around.

“We know the mistakes we made,” he said. “We have new players now and we’re ready. It will be difficult but if we don’t give up we’ll be okay.”

Fortune says one of the main reasons for his confidence is head coach Roberto Di Matteo and his tougher training regime.

“The gaffer has a different way of managing the team (to Tony Mowbray),” he said. “I’ve only been here for one week, but I can see that the way we train and the way the manager wants to play is different.

“We have to be at 100% every training session. If we train hard like that we can be ready for every game.

“We also know that we have to be good defensively. We made mistakes in the past that we have to avoid now.”

Former Carlisle United defender Ian Harte has thanked manager Greg Abbott after he completed his move to Reading.

Harte joined the Royals on transfer deadline day in a surprise move and was quick to thank Abbott for rejuvenating his career at Brunton Park.

He said: “The move really came from nowhere but I have to be honest and say that it is nice to see a club at that level showing an interest.

“They are a big club who were in the Premier League just a few years ago. They are in the Championship and the chance to go and play at that level again was one I didn’t want to miss.

“The difficult part was that I have really enjoyed my time at Carlisle. Greg Abbott has really looked after me and he was willing to give me a chance to get myself back into the game at a point when I didn’t have a club.

“I can’t thank him enough for that.”

Lithuania defender Marius Zaliukas is praying for a victory in what he reckons is the “most important game of his career” against Scotland.

Zaliukas is looking to put uncertainty over his future at Hearts behind him by getting his country’s Euro 2012 qualifying campaign off to a winning start.

The centre-back was not involved when Scotland beat Lithuania in Kaunas four years ago and he is looking to taste success against the country he has made his home for the past three years.

“It’s going to be probably the most important game of my career and I hope for a sweet victory,” Zaliukas said ahead of the Group I encounter.

“They will be looking to win and will go forward all the time but we are prepared for that.

“All their players are a threat but we are not a bad team and we’re looking forward to winning this game.

“It’s not going to be easy but we’re looking forward to fighting with Czech Republic for second place. I don’t think anyone can compare with Spain but we will see.”

Zaliukas has been unable to reach agreement with Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov over a new contract, with his ties to the club due to end in December.

But the 26-year-old has denied claims he asked for £20,000 a week and insists he hopes to resolve the situation.

“I would like to stay but we have some issues and we are working on it,” Zaliukas said.

Another Lithuania player, Zaliukas’ former Hearts team-mate Andrius Velicka, is more assured about his future after agreeing a loan move to Aberdeen this week.

The 31-year-old has not played for Rangers since rupturing a cruciate ligament more than a year ago and is positive about his season swap deal with Richard Foster after speaking to Dons boss Mark McGhee.

“It’s good for me because I can get an opportunity to play,” Velicka said.

“That’s the main thing for me now after my injury, just to get on the pitch so I’m looking forward to that.

“It was a tough time for me so hopefully everything will go okay. I spoke to Mark McGhee earlier this week and I loved what I heard from him so I’m happy to go there.”

Leeds manager Simon Grayson has confirmed he “was very close” to adding another player to his new-look squad on transfer deadline day.

Grayson handed permanent deals to Honduras international Ramon Nunez and Manchester City midfielder Adam Clayton on Tuesday – four days after the arrival of Ross McCormack – to bring the total number of summer signings to 11.

Grayson said: “We were close, very close, to bringing in another player, but the deal fell at the last hurdle, which was unfortunate because I thought he would have been a good signing for us.

“But at the last minute he decided he wanted to stay where he was, which of course he was entitled to do.

“We’re looking all the time. We’re looking at players for the January transfer window so it’s an ongoing thing.”