Mansfield Town transfer deal hits ‘stumbling block’

But, with a month of the summer window still to go, manager Nigel Clough knows he can switch his search elsewhere if the deal is deemed dead in the water.

“We are reasonably close with one, but we've hit a stumbling block,” he said.

“We can't seem to get over that at the moment, but it is a permanent signing.

“It might get resolved and it might not - we are still hopeful we might be able to get there. Everything is agreed with the player, but we're still working on that one.

“It's a player we have had our eye on for a while and we are down the road with negotiations.

“David Sharpe (chief executive) is working very hard with the owners on that one, so we are still hoping we might get it over the line. If not we will look elsewhere.”

Clough said this will be the final piece of the jigsaw unless a player leaves or short term injuries become longer term.

“It will just be one player initially, then we will see how Kieran Wallace settles down,” he said.

“He had an injection in his knee a couple of weeks ago, so he is building it back up in the gym and starts running on his own next week.

“As long as the reaction is fine we will stick with that. We said we'd go with 19 outfield.

“We've got 18 at the moment with Cooper and Gale on top who will go out on loan once everyone is fit.

“James Perch should be back in a week or two if everything goes well with him.

“Everything is quiet at the moment in terms of outgoings. If somebody goes out we would replace them, but that's the only way we'd bring anyone else in.”

Oli Hawkins is available again this weekend after suspension and will play an hour in a training game against Sheffield Wednesday U23s today.

All the weekend substitutes are likely to have a run out and most of the first team will also get 45 minutes.

However, striker Rhys Oates rolled an ankle in the opening day defeat at Salford City and will sit out training to make sure he is okay for Saturday's visit of Tranmere Rovers.