No new faces imminent for Mansfield Town as transfer window edges towards halfway point

Clough has said he may freshen things up with up to three new players.

He also needs to make a decision on the future of striker Danny Johnson, who has scored 14 goals in all competitions for Walsall where his loan ends this weekend.

“I believe there have been some enquiries for Danny. The board are handling those,” said Clough.

“We do have an option to call Danny back from Sunday, so David (CEO Sharpe) and the owners will be discussing that one.

“There is always a way back in for anybody and he has scored some goals.

“We always knew he would score goals at this level, that's why we brought him in.

“We just couldn't fit him into the way we were playing. Whether he would score those goals in the way we play I don't know.

“The dilemma we have is if we bring him back and play him, then he couldn't play for anybody else but Walsall if he did go somewhere before the end of the month.”

Otherwise, Clough is still chasing his original targets and so far they have not said no.

But if they do not come off he said he won't be signing players for the sake of it.

“We are having a meeting with David Sharpe to go over options and to see the position of the two or three we've enquired after,” he said.

“I think it is unlikely anything will happen before the weekend.

“There are a few that have gone through in general in League Two, but most things usually happen in the last week of a window.

“If it happens it happens. If it doesn't we're not going to chase players that are not as good as what we've got. They have to be at least as good or different in order to improve the squad.

“We are trying to get into that top seven and I think we have enough to do that.

“We set out at the start of the season to put a squad in place, but it has been decimated at times with injury.

“I am not tempted to make the squad bigger as none of our injuries are long term, apart from Anthony Hartigan. We hope to have them all back by the end of January.

“If that changes we will know that by then which is a good thing – the likes of Riley Harbottle and Ollie Clarke.”

He added: “We are still in with a shout of our prime targets. It's not a massive list. January is not a good window in which to do business. Everybody will tell you that.

“There may be the odd loan here or there, but that may well depend on what happens with George Lapslie too.”

Clough does look to have now lost the services of Hartigan for the rest of the season following his second dislocated shoulder of the campaign.

“Losing Anthony for the rest of the season is a big blow,” said Clough.

“He needs an operation so that will rule him out for three months. We will take it from there. We're talking about April time so it's not going to give him a lot of time to get back and be fit.

“I spoke to him last week. There is nothing he can do. He's gone back home and he is waiting for the operation.

“We will have to see what happens in January but I still think we have enough in that dressing room if they're all fit.”

Clough has already admitted the club may lose midfield ace George Lapslie in the window.

An improved offer has been made to the 25-year-old, whose current deal runs out in the summer.

But, if he doesn't want to sign it, Clough expects the club may cash in on any decent offers from elsewhere.

Clough said: “It has stalled a little bit and I think we are at a bit of an impasse.

“It's a bit of a stalemate at the moment, though I think David Sharpe (club CEO) is still in touch with them.

“I think there has to be a desire from both parties.

“There has to be a desire from George's representatives to come back to us and say this is what it would take for him to stay or even that George does want to stay – that is the first thing we want, knowing he wants to stay at the club.

“George is a Southern lad and that may be coming into it. I have no problem with George whatsoever, but it is an important contract for him at his age and geographic circumstances may come into it.

“Anything can happen in the next couple of weeks, but we just have to be realistic about the situation.”

Lapslie joined Stags on loan from Charlton Athletic in October 202, but made the move a permanent one by January 2021, winning Player of the Season. He has scored seven goals in all competitions this season.