Six weeks ago, when Chris O'Grady scored for Sheffield United against Walsall, he appeared destined for a return north.

He took his partner and three young children with him after teaming up with the Blades on loan.

He left behind frustration and disillusionment over a move to Albion which had quickly turned sour.

Now O'Grady will be making the 400th appearance of a 13-club career spent almost exclusively the Scottish side of Leicester with Albion after boss Chris Hughton revealed yesterday he will be going nowhere before the transfer window closes at 11pm on Monday evening.

That has dashed the Blades' hopes of buying the bustling centre-forward at least until the summer and perhaps for good.

Hughton's remarks have killed any possibility that the 398th appearance of O'Grady's career tomorrow at Blackpool, a team he scored twice against for Barnsley a year ago, would also be his last in an Albion shirt.

It has been a stunning transformation for O'Grady since caretaker Nathan Jones recalled him early from his loan with the Blades for the post-Christmas fixture at Fulham.

He came on and helped set up the clinching second goal for Solly March at Craven Cottage.

Events have taken an even more encouraging turn for O'Grady since the New Year's Eve appointment of Hughton.

Impact substitute appearances in his first two games in charge, at Brentford in the FA Cup and at Charlton, were followed by another in the league return against Brentford at the Amex.

An ankle injury sustained by Craig Mackail-Smith in the closing stages of that 1-0 defeat gave O'Grady an opportunity which he has grasped with both hands.

He received a standing ovation at the Amex last week for his performance when replaced by Leon Best towards the end of the victory over Ipswich.

The aspect absent from his robust and diligent display was his finishing. That was put right on Sunday against Arsenal as O'Grady, on his 29th birthday, again led the line well and clinically despatched his only opportunity early in the second half to get Albion back into the tie.

Goals, assists and meaningful contributions in a six-game spell is quite a contrast to O'Grady's suffering during the abbreviated reign of Sami Hyypia.

He did not score. He did not ever really look like scoring and he did not play much.

The timing was unfortunate for O'Grady when Albion bought him from Barnsley for £500,000 in the summer and awarded him a lucrative three-year contract.

Eyebrows were raised around the football community. O'Grady did not feel like a fit for a club aspiring to reach the Premier League, particularly hot-on-the-heels of Leo Ulloa's £8 million move to Leicester.

In fact, O'Grady was purchased more as a striking alternative that a direct replacement for Ulloa.

Sheffield United, according to reports in Yorkshire, had an agreement in principle to buy O'Grady which would eventually repay Albion's transfer fee investment.

The irony is that, as Albion have struggled this season, so O'Grady has become more of a fit.

Whether he is regarded as a talisman to make them top six contenders once again from next summer onwards remains to be seen.

Blackburn loanee Best, Cup-tied for Arsenal's visit, is breathing down his neck.

Right now though, as Hughton remarked after his man-of-the-match showing against Arsenal, O'Grady is in a "nice place".