Manager Dean Saunders has confirmed that a deal to sign striker Iain Hume until the end of the season has been agreed in principle.
Hume, who is on loan from Preston North End until January, has earned many plaudits for the tireless efforts shown in games this season Dean has moved to seal his signature for the remainder of the season.
“We’ve secured a deal for Iain Hume,” he said
“We’ve just got to dot the I’s and cross the T’s, it’s not 100% over the line yet but we’ve agreed in principle that he’s going to stay with us.”
Saunders also revealed that he had been given the go ahead to offer deals to Andy Griffin and Sammy Clingan, whilst James Coppinger will be returning from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest to further strengthen the squad going into the second half of the season.
“Sammy Clingan’s and Andy Griffin’s contracts were up and needed sorting too. Whether we can agree a deal with them or not is another matter but I’ve got the go ahead from the board to extend their contracts.
“James [Coppinger] will be coming back from Forest, it was always a dilemma that when that happened would we be able to keep the three but we’ve managed to rustle some money up without having to rely on the owner.
“James is coming back, he’s going to be our player and I’m looking forward to having him back. He might be available for the Sheffield United game on New Years Day but he will be available for all the games after that.
“He’s a class player, I had spoke to him already and told him that I was looking forward to having him back; he’s assured me he’s going to come back and try and help the club get promoted.”
Dean also confirmed that the board have made funds available to further strengthen the squad during the transfer window.
“The club will get £5million if we go up so we’re in a good position. It’s going to be a tall order for us to do it with 18 players, and everybody understands that, so the directors have got together and are making money available for me.
“There are weaknesses in the squad which we have identified; I have spoke to them about it and they’ve backed me on that. I think we need two or three more players then we have got now. We’ve got 17 with Neil Sullivan being on loan at Wimbledon, James Coppinger coming back will make that 18 and then we probably need to add two or three more in key positions so that if we get injuries or suspensions we don’t go into games short on numbers.
“We’ve got some key players in our team and if we can keep them fit we will do well, but we’ve done nothing yet, we’ve had a good start but we have to keep that going.”