UNSETTLED Darlington midfielder Ashley Nicholls has joined Third Division rivals Cambridge United on loan for the rest of the season.

Quakers boss David Hodgson has reluctantly accepted that Nicholls' future lies away from the Reynolds Arena after the player expressed his desire to return closer to his home in the south.

Hodgson turned down an approach from the Us offering to take the 22-year-old on loan for a month earlier this week.

But after further negotiations, John Taylor has agreed to take Nicholls to the Abbey Stadium for three months.

Nicholls joined Quakers after he was freed by hometown club Ipswich 18 months ago, but the 22-year-old has failed to settle in the North-East.

Doubts over Nicholls' Quakers future first surfaced when he returned for pre-season training late.

The former England schoolboy has struggled to recapture the form of last season and Hodgson hopes the move will be beneficial.

"We've allowed Ash to go down there where he'll be nearer home and hopefully he will be happy," said Hodgson.

"He has an opportunity to go to Cambridge and earn a long-term move.

"Hopefully the lad can concentrate on his football and prove to us and himself that the move is a good one.

"We've done as much as we can for Ash and now it's up to him to decide what he wants."

Nicholls - who has trained with Cambridge all week - will not play when his new club travel to the Reynolds Arena in March after Hodgson placed a clause in the deal.

"It would be a classic if he goes and scores the winner against us up here in March," said Hodgson.

And under Football League regulations for clubs in administration, which restrict them to 20 players, Nicholls' departure will give Hodgson the option to bring another player in.

"I need a couple of days to asses the situation and decide what's best," said Hodgson.

"Ash's move gives us a bit more flexibility and the opportunity to bring somebody else in if we need to."

* New Nottingham Forest boss Joe Kinnear has revealed how he had been on the brink of quitting football before Barry Hearn and Sam Hammam combined to rekindle his passion for the game.

Kinnear claims his acrimonious departure from Luton at the end of last season has seen him out of pocket to the tune of around £400,000.

Kinnear, who took charge at relegation-threatened Division One outfit Forest yesterday, said: ''I'll put my hands up and say I was so disillusioned I was thinking of calling it a day after that."

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