Highly-rated Herd, 21, enjoyed a six-month loan stint at Lincoln last season where he impressed in 20 appearances scoring four goals before his stay was cut short due to a medial ligament injury.

Imps boss Chris Sutton told the Lincolnshire Echo his attempts to bring the Perth-born youngster back to Lincoln this term had hit a snag.

"We wanted to bring Chris Herd back because he did fantastically well for us last season," Sutton said.

"But the problem is that he is injured and he is going to be out for another two months which is a blow.

"To be honest, we've explored bringing back a few players who did well for us last season.

"The difficulty is that, because they have done so well, they have moved onto to another level and their teams want to take a look at them."