Luke Williams has hinted that Notts County could be in the market to add to their current squad for the remaining seven games of the season ahead of the National League deadline at 5pm tomorrow.
While clubs in the fifth tier are not met with the same restrictions as clubs in the Premier League and EFL for the majority of the season, sides in the division will have to register players to take part in the remaining games of the campaign by Thursday afternoon.
The Magpies have already strengthened, particularly in the attacking department, welcoming most recently Junior Morias on a three-year deal, along with the loan signings of Jodi Jones and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans.
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With little time to bolster his squad, the Notts head coach explained that he has full trust in the recruitment staff to bring in players should they improve the current options at his disposal.
"We have got a good group of players and we are happy with the players we have, but I think there are options and potentially there will be a late signing, maybe more.
"But as you know, I have a large volume of work to do with the players already here and I have got good people working with me here that will be heavily involved in the recruitment process and will bring me into that when the time is completely relevant to me.
"I have got full trust with everybody at the club that we will do what is right."
One area many are keen to strengthen is in defence, with there seemingly no let-up to setbacks in the backline for most of this season.
Of all the defenders at the club, none have featured in all 39 league games this season, with ever-presents Kyle Cameron and Sam Slocombe missing out most recently through a minor injury and illness respectively.
The club confirmed today that full-back Tobi Adebayo-Rowling had undergone successful ankle surgery after picking up an injury in the 4-1 win over Barnet last month.
Aden Baldwin was also forced to withdraw from the action in Notts' 3-1 win over Eastleigh last week having just returned from suspension, while Richard Brindley has not featured since the end of January with a recurring back injury.
But Williams was on hand to provide a positive update on the pairing ahead of a crucial part of the campaign, while also providing insight into Morias' progress after arriving from Dagenham and Redbridge earlier this month with a minor issue.
"Richard Brindley trained today and yesterday very well, so we are really optimistic about him returning very soon.
"Aden is out on the grass but is not joining in with full training yet, but he is approaching that point so we expect him to be back with us very soon.
"Junior is disappointing because the problem is a little bit more serious than we anticipated, but he is out on the grass and today he is kicking the ball and moving well on the grass, so we need to make sure that he is strong and completely clear of injury - there is also some conditioning work we need to do so that he can fulfil the role when he goes on the pitch, hopefully, we will have a much clearer idea this time next week."
Along with defensive injuries, the Magpies also lose two players to international duty - Tiernan Brooks receiving a call-up to the Republic of Ireland's under-21's squad, while Jodi Jones has been named for Malta's Euro 2024 fixtures against North Macedonia and Italy.
With two more players unavailable for the visit of Scunthorpe this weekend, Williams explained that preparations had been affected.
"It's more difficult because Sam is still just recovering back now, of course, we have Archie (Mair) as well who trained very well, very good actually.
"We have options, but ideally you want all of your players available, and then with Jodi, he is a really talented player and we are trying to give him as many minutes without him hitting a brick wall.
"Maybe Eastleigh I pushed a little too much, the first half I thought he looked tired which is completely normal, so it's down to myself and the medical team to get the appropriate minutes in for Jodi at the appropriate time.
"But he is a very talented player, we know that. I would prefer to have everybody to choose from and have guys that can come off the bench to have a massive impact like they have done so many times, but it's not to be and it's two important games for his country so we are delighted with him for that, but it does make things a little more challenging."
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