Paddy DavittNorwich City's out-of-favour striker Jamie Cureton is reportedly poised to join League Two promotion hopefuls Shrewsbury on loan.Shrewsbury officials are ready to agree a salary package with the Canaries for one of their top earners, who is out of contract in the summer.Paddy Davitt

Norwich City's out-of-favour striker Jamie Cureton is reportedly poised to join League Two promotion hopefuls Shrewsbury on loan.

Shrewsbury officials are ready to agree a salary package with the Canaries for one of their top earners, who is out of contract in the summer.

The former City trainee might be tempted by the opportunity to land a permanent deal after slipping down the pecking order at Carrow Road, with Grant Holt having arrived from the Shrews in the summer. The 34-year-old could be in line to make his debut for Paul Simpson's men in this weekend's derby battle against Hereford after previously being linked with league rivals Cheltenham and League One Gillingham.

Cureton has again been left out of Norwich's reserve squad for today's latest second string fixture against Ipswich, with City chief Paul Lambert confirming recently there had been firm interest during the January transfer window.

'This is his last year, as he knows, and he's got to get playing football for his own sake as well,' he said.

'You've got to think for the long term and what direction the club will go in. He needs games as well. We have lads who are ahead of Jamie at the minute. You can't keep everybody happy every single time. I've not had one bit of a problem with him. It's just hard because you can only pick so many players to play in a game.'

Cureton has notched two goals in eight senior appearances this season, with his last outing a couple of months ago in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Swindon.

The Bristolian had a loan stint at Barnsley last season after an impressive 14 goal haul in his first campaign since returning to the Canaries for a second time.

Shrewsbury would be Cureton's tenth English club of career that began at Carrow Road with his senior debut back in November 1994.

Shrews' boss Paul Simpson wants a proven striker to bolster his club's play-off push after missing out on Barnet's John O'Flynn.

The Irishman rejected a January transfer window switch to the New Meadow despite both clubs agreeing terms.

Simpson claimed following that deal's collapse he originally wanted to pair long time target O'Flynn with City skipper Grant Holt who has been a revelation since his �400,000 summer move to the Canaries.

'The interest in John O'Flynn has been on-going for ages,' said Simpson. 'I initially wanted him to partner Grant Holt, and we then enquired last summer and at the start of this transfer window and the discussions have been on-going.

'We agreed a deal for him and we then showed him around. But he then decided he wants to see what interest there is when he is a Bosman in the summer when his Barnet contract expires. He wants to play in League One or the Championship and we can't guarantee that at the moment.'

Jamie Cureton has an impressive CV to show to potential new employers. Kevin Phillips and Scott McGleish are the only active players in England to have scored more League goals than the City veteran.

1 Kevin Phillips (Birmingham) 221

2 Scott McGleish (Leyton Orient) 189

3 Jamie Cureton (Norwich) 186

4 Nicky Forster (Brighton) 185

5 Paul Furlong (Barnet) 183

6 Steve Howard (Leicester) 178

7 Peter Thorne (Bradford) 170

8 Dougie Freedman (Southend) 162

9 Michael Owen (Manchester Utd) 159

10 Lee Hughes (Notts County) 150