Keeper Cracknell to stay with Boro for rest of season

This new long-term loan also includes any play-off games for Boro.

The keeper has made nine appearances for Athletic since returning to the club in December, putting in some superb displays during their push for the play-offs.

Joint-manager Bryan Hughes was delighted to have secured the services of the young keeper for the rest of the campaign.

“This is fantastic news for the club, and is a big, big signing for us. We have been trying to get Joe signed on for longer for a while and now we have managed to get him for the rest of the season on a long-term loan.

“We have just managed to beat the deadline for players from Premier League clubs, and I would like to thank all at Hull City for allowing us to keep him here for longer.

“This is good for them as he will get plenty of match experience and also great for us as he is a top-class young keeper.”

Hughes added: “As we look to push on and challenge for the play-offs Joe is a very important player for us. He played very well last season during his loan spell here and he has shone again since returning in December.

“We are still looking at other options player-wise but that is mainly in order to add more strength in depth, this is the time of year when players tend to pick up injuries as was shown in our previous game.”

The former Hull City, Birmingham City and Charlton Athletic midfielder said: “There is an inspection planned for tomorrow’s game at Burscough for around 9.30am, but we are very keen to play and bounce back from the disappointment of the last two matches, we need to get back playing after last week’s postponement.”