Scunthorpe United hope to conclude a deal to sign Josh Walker in the next couple of days.

The Iron have been speaking to the midfielder and Championship side Watford about recruiting the 22-year-old since the end of last week, but manager Alan Knill hopes they are at an advanced stage.

Walker, who has skippered England at Under-16, 17 and 20 level, has been on trial at Glanford Park for the past few weeks.

He began his career at Middlesbrough, where he won the FA Youth Cup in 2004 as part of a Boro team including Adam Johnson and David Wheater.

Since moving to Watford in August 2010, Walker has struggled to get a regular run of first-team football and has spent two spells on loan at Stevenage, the second of which saw him score against the Iron in Scunthorpe's 2-1 win at the Lamex Stadium in October.

Knill though is confident the defensive midfielder has a lot to offer, if he is given a run of games.

"I must have watched him 10 times and he's played against my teams three or four times. He always seems to score against me," said the Scunthorpe manager.

"He did it this year and he did it when he was on loan at Rotherham too.

"He fits into what we like. He's a really good footballer, technically as good as anything you'll come across, and he's only 22.

"He played in the first team at Middlesbrough when he was 18.

"He did really well, but got an injury and though he's had some loan moves and done well, when he went back to Middlesbrough it was to a change of manager.

"At Watford he did well too, but he needs someone to say to him 'come and play'."

Although Walker's current deal with Watford runs out at the end of the campaign, it is thought the Hornets are looking for a nominal fee for the player.

"We're in negotiations, that's where it's at at the moment," Knill added.

"We're hopeful we can do something with the player and the club, but that's the difficult thing, as always."

The Iron's pursuit of Walker would suggest their hopes of re-signing Oliver Norwood on loan from Manchester United have suffered a setback.

Knill today insisted Scunthorpe were 'still trying to discuss something' with the Premier League champions, about a player who made 18 first-team appearances for them during the first half of the campaign.

"But whether it's a 'yes' or a 'no' isn't dictated by us, it's dictated by them," he concluded.