Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough chasing three more signings with one close to completion

But, having paid out no fees so far, he still has leeway for another late addition if someone special comes up before transfer deadline.

Clough is also still in talks with USA striker Dom Dywer about staying at the club and monitoring the fitness of Lee Gregory to see if he can play a part in the season ahead.

“I am excited by the new players coming in – we have six so far with hopefully two or three more to come in,” he said.

“I think we have one loan signing close to being completed on a younger player and I think we want two more after that ideally which would take the squad up to the 21 mark, which is the permitted amount with three under the age cap.

“But if something exceptional came up I think we still have a bit of headroom to do it.

“We have paid out no fees as yet which is just down to there being no one out there we think it is worth paying a fee for. They have all been good, solid signings on free transfers and we won't waste the chairman's money if we don't have to.”

He added: “We are now mainly looking at strikers or forward players. I think we are okay defensively. Maybe a defensive midfielder, but one or two forwards would be ideal.

“I think we were at the end of a cycle last year when we had players who had done incredibly well for us, but it was time to move on.

“With the loans going back I think we ended up with about 16 players, so to bring in eight or nine is a good number to replace them. And we are very pleased with the ones who have come in so far.

“The players did all their testing last weekend and have come back in good nick which means we can push on a bit quicker.”

Gregory is still trying to recover from knee surgery while former international striker Dwyer remains in negotiations.

“Lee Gregory is not training yet. He is still doing some rehab work and we are just going to keep monitoring his progress and see how his knee is doing,” said Clough.

“It has been a bit stop-start for him over the summer with his knee swelling up a bit, but we want to give him every opportunity to come back and I think he starts back on the grass next week.

“We will know a bit more in the next few weeks.

“I think we are getting close with Dom Dwyer. We would like to get him backstroke.

“I thought he had an impact in the last few months of the season.

“He scored four very important goals and I think you could see his potential.

“He has had a few offers over in the States but I think he'd like to stay over here if he can.

“He has just had a new baby boy a couple of weeks ago, so we are hoping we can get something sorted with Dom by early next week.”

He added: “Everyone has come through the first few days of training including the rest of the lads who had procedures in the summer.

“Deji Oshilaja had a small groin procedure and he has done everything.

“Elliott Hewitt and Frazer Blake-Tracy finished the season on the treatment table and they have done everything too which is encouraging.

“Rhys Oates is out there too. He was a little bit ahead because he really would have been fit mid-May. So he has been working extremely hard as well as getting married this summer.

“But he has been out a long time so we have to be patient with him.”

Defender Aden Flint, who was released in May continues to train at the club.

“Aden is training with us just to tick over,” said Clough.

“He has nothing sorted yet so asked if he could come in and do a few sessions. “That is no problem at all as it is always a pleasure to have him around.”

Mansfield this week announced a four day pre-season training camp in Ireland including a friendly at Sligo Rovers from 14th July.

“We are looking forward to a few days away. I have been to Galway a few times and it is a beautiful place,” said Clough.

“We are doing similar to what we did at St Andrews, staying at the University in the student accommodation, and we will train there.

“We were hoping to play Galway but there was a problem playing at their stadium, so we will head off to Sligo.

“It will be a very important few days with the new players – there could be eight or nine by then.

“It will be a crucial time getting to know each other and bonding and gelling as well as some serious training.”

Clough signed a new year deal to stay on as boss this week and said: “We are delighted – it's me and all the staff as well – everyone is committed to the next two seasons and looking forward to continuing the progress we've made in recent seasons.

“We are looking forward to taking the club forward with the owners and everyone else and trying to establish ourselves in League One – and then go beyond.

“The club has been making progress for a number of years. To come out of the Conference and be looking to establish itself in League One in a relatively short space of time in football years – 10 years – is very good progress.

“You can see that around the stadium. Bishop Street is being sorted now, crowds are good – season tickets are selling – so all those things are good indicators of the progress being made.”