Ross County manager Owen Coyle hopes his efforts to strengthen his Staggies squad will bear fruit before Saturday’s Scottish Cup trip to Kilmarnock.
Coyle is keen to freshen up his pool, after the Dingwall side slumped to the bottom of the Premiership table prior to the winter break.
Having only added Aberdeen midfielder Greg Tansey on loan so far, Coyle is confident he is close to further breakthroughs as talks continue ahead of the Staggies’ return to action this weekend.
Coyle said: “There has been lots of dialogue and conversation taking place. One or two things seem a bit closer.
“It’s ongoing and hopefully in the next couple of days there will be positive news.
“Will there be a couple in before the cup game? We’d love to, to help the squad we have. Just that bit of freshness.
“If we don’t, it won’t be through lack of effort. We’re looking to add as quickly as we can.
“It’s two-fold. When you are in pursuit of other clubs players, it is understandable there can be a reluctance if teams think these players are part of their plans.
“The other side of it is, if you have targets from south of the border, it can be dependent on whether that club is doing any business.
“Players might be available but at the moment are not, until they bolster their squad. So it is one of those where we have to weigh everything up but hopefully we press the button at the right time and everything falls into place.”
Coyle is keen to bolster all areas of the field but says a defender and a physical attacker are among his main priorities, adding: “We’re not blessed with huge numbers defensively – we only have six defenders at the club. Any injuries in that area and we are decimated numbers-wise.
“In the middle area, we will still look to add a different profile to what we have and, up front, we have similar players in terms of physique and attributes.
“If we can get someone a bit more physical up top then we will look at it, but, of course, those types of player are not readily available.
“We have good strikers but it is about getting that balance of who plays well with each other. If there is a bigger, more physical striker that is something we might be keen on, but it has to be the right type of person.
“We’re looking for more of a target man, something we don’t have.”