Ross County manager Malky Mackay insists he will apply careful planning before making any fresh signings during the January transfer window.
The Staggies have four games remaining before the winter break, starting with Wednesday’s trip to St Johnstone.
County go into the game a point ahead of the bottom-placed Saints, but could move up to ninth in the Premiership with a victory.
Mackay, who made 12 additions during the summer, has been thrilled with the way his side has blended during his first six months in charge.
The Staggies boss insists he will not bring new faces in for the sake of it, given the risk of disrupting the balance of his squad.
Mackay said: “January is a very strange window. I’m very wary of bringing someone in just purely for the press conference.
“The following day, when you go out to train, you find they’re not as good as what we already have here.
“It is a balance between seeing someone who is financially right for the football club and is correct for the club.
“I’m very wary of stockpiling people that aren’t any better than what we’ve got. We have a really good group there and I don’t want to upset that balance we’ve got.
“We’ve got cover which was lacking before.
“If something came up in the window that was very tempting, fine, but don’t expect 10 signings going on in January.”
Staggies’ recruitment will be tailored towards long-term
Mackay brought in Enda Barron to oversee County’s recruitment, with the Staggies boss keen to implement long-term changes to the club’s approach.
He added: “I brought Enda in and talked to the ownership as to how we could actually look at recruitment in the club in a broader sense, more deeply drilled into how we recruit at the football club.
“We don’t want to fall into traps every year.
“We’re early in the process. That will take investment over a period of five years when we’ll see longer term strategy for the football club – and longer-term reward.
“That’s on academy players coming through, on buying low and selling high and on bringing in diamonds, working in partnership with clubs to bring in X-factor loans.
“We’ve done a couple of those as well.
“That’s a big job and it is a job over a period of years. It will need some funds attached to it to make it very beneficial, with a bit of speculate to accumulate.
“The last window saw 16 out, 12 in – it was crazy.
“For the 12 that came in, add another 60 on to that who didn’t come in.”
Staggies’ loanees will be assessed in January
County have six loan players at the club, with Harry Clarke, Ash Maynard-Brewer and Joseph Hungbo having nailed down regular spots.
Left-back Jake Vokins has recently returned from a metatarsal fracture, while Jack Burroughs has been in and out of the side.
Manchester City midfielder Alex Robertson has found game time harder to come by, with the teenager making only three substitute appearances in the league.
Mackay says he will assess all loan deals come the turn of the year.
He added: “We will have a conversation with all the loan clubs at Christmas time.
“There’s a situation of what we would like, and what the parent club would like.
“We want to keep good relationships with a lot of these clubs.
“Sometimes loans work, sometimes they don’t work.
“We want to make sure the player is treated properly, and holistically there’s a good approach there. We want them to go back with something.
“We don’t really know until we have that conversation with them all, but I would like to think we are doing a good job with all the loan players – playing or not playing.
“The ones on first time loans are still getting something, in that it’s the first time they have moved away from home in their lives.”
