Andy Halliday 'target' rumours scotched by Motherwell boss as he remains tight-lipped over Hearts star

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell has denied links with Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday, but says they are dealing with several signing targets.

Halliday, 32, hasn’t played for Hearts since the start of November and is believed to have been told he can leave Tynecastle this month or when his contract expires in the summer.

That could interest the Fir Park boss, who is reported to have made an official approach to Hearts, but he was remaining tight-lipped about Halliday.

When asked what he could say about rumours linking the club to Halliday, Kettlewell said: “I can’t tell you anything. I believe we’ve been linked with every single player going.

“What I can tell you is that we’ve spoken to a host of players, a host of agents, a host of clubs, to try and see if we can help the situation that we sit in, to try and build the squad, and bring good players to the club, and guys who are going to add value to what we currently have.

“I’m not going to name-check anybody, I’m not going to go into specific players, I can assure you.”

Kettlewell told his players to have some time away during the winter break, while he tried to bring new signings to the club.

He said: “I didn’t take any time off over this period, I’ve been working tirelessly, along with the recruitment team and the staff, to try and see if we can do what we feel is right for this club.

“There have been conversations, some successful, in terms of some of them are still spinning and some of them are still trundling along – and several that aren’t.

“There are several that other clubs in this division can blow us out of the water with, so we have to take our medicine on that.

“That’s no different from what it was for me in the summer – there are plenty of knock-backs and