OWEN Coyle has played down claims from Portsmouth that he is ready to bring striker David Nugent to the Reebok.

Pompey’s administrator Andrew Andronikou name-checked Wanderers as a likely destination for the one-time England international, who is available at around £2.5million.

But Coyle – who brought the former Bury and Preston striker to Turf Moor on loan in his time as Burnley boss – says he has no plans to reunite.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone about David,” he said.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a really good player who I worked with very closely at Turf Moor. And I’m happy to get linked with good players.

“But I’m not looking to bring him to Bolton, and I certainly haven’t made any offers for him, as Portsmouth seem to be suggesting.”

Relegated Portsmouth have been told they must sell £15million of playing talent by the end of the summer to balance the books.

And Androniku revealed that Nugent is one of the players the club are trying to get off their books.

“We are hoping to speak to David’s agent over the next two weeks to find out what his client wants to do,” he said yesterday.

“I am told he is trying to stay in the Premier League and Bolton are interested.

“We are looking at £2.5m upwards – that would be a good fee. We are certainly not going to recoup what we have paid for him, while I would like to avoid paying his level of wages.”

Nugent may not be on his wish list, but Coyle said he is looking to bolster his attacking options in the coming months.

“It would be fair to say we need a bit more competition up front – maybe one or two more,” he said.

“It’s that time of the year where we are being mentioned with a lot of players.

“We’ve put a few calls out, but at the moment, it is still very quiet.”

Meanwhile, Wanderers have confirmed they will face Coyle’s former club St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on August 2 as part of their pre-season preparations.

It is expected that a second match in Scotland could also be announced in the next few days.