Dunfermline boss Jim Jefferies is bracing himself for a hectic final few days of the January transfer window as he seeks to strengthen his squad and try to protect what he has got.
With transfer sanctions imposed on the Pars for going into administration now lifted, Jefferies has been looking at a number of trialists over the last couple of weeks with a view to adding to his playing pool.
Finances will obviously dictate who he can bring in, while loan deals are out of the question after the Pars took Lawrence Shankland on loan from Aberdeen the fifth and maximum number allowed in a season.
But while Jefferies is still keen to make moves in the transfer market, particularly to bolster the defence, he is also hoping to retain the squad that have got them to second place in League One.
“It’s a time just now where there’s so much going on in your head,” he said.
“You’re waiting for phone calls to find out about players you’ve enquired about. I know what happens.
“This is the middle of January and it will start to get a wee bit busier now, and next week will be even busier but the last week will be pandemonium.
“By then people will want to get on with it if they’ve not got the moves they thought they were going to get.
“They all hold back to see who’s all interested before the agent gets on the phone. You just have to wait and see and then make the decision.
“If it’s somebody with a wee bit more experience than we have and we can get a few years out of him, and they can do us a turn, then we’ll do our best. But it’s not easy at this time of the year.
“The end of the season is best because clubs let players go and the summer’s the time when you can make your plans.”
Offers have been made to at least eight members of his playing squad to extend their contracts beyond the end of the season, with 17-year-olds Lewis Martin and Ryan Williamson singled out for praise by Jefferies despite the Pars’ 1-0 defeat to Airdrie on Saturday first to sign up until summer 2016 last week.
That was made possible by the number of fans who have signed up to the Pars’ Centenary Club scheme, and Jefferies hopes to get answers from more of his players as soon as possible.
“You get the nucleus of the side tied up first,” he said.
“You can’t do everyone at the same time. It’s not to say the other boys will not be offered a contract, they will be in time as well.
“We just need to know and it’s the same at any club. Six months prior to them going out of contract, you make them an offer.
“If they like the deal, they’ll accept it if they like being here.”