McKeever once more a Rover - February 8, 2001
Sheffield Wednesday's Irish winger Mark McKeever is due to sign today for his second loan spell at Bristol Rovers. Caretaker manager Gary Thompson has lined up McKeever as his first acquisition.
Thompson's predecessor, Ian Holloway, tried to sign the 22-year-old permanently earlier this season - but after the clubs agreed terms, Wednesday boss Paul Jewell was persuaded by fan power to change his mind.
McKeever - born in Derry but declared for the Republic - was previously at Rovers in the 1998-'9 season and there enjoyed the best spell of his career so far.
His sojourn coincided a Rovers purple patch and they scored 15 goals in the five games he started - including a 6-0 drubbing of Reading.
Thompson, who has already indicated that he too would like to sign McKeever permanently, said: "Mark is a tremendous player. He has talent in abundance and plenty of pace, which is exactly what we need."
The Irishman is expected to go straight into the Rovers side for Saturday's division-two clash with Notts County at the Memorial Stadium.