Burton Albion have enquiries in for players ahead of the January transfer window - but Nigel Clough is expecting to have to wait until mid-January before knowing if their attempted moves will come off.
Clough is keen to bring in quality additions to his squad once the window opens on January 1 as Albion look for a similar boost to the one given to them by the likes of Luke Murphy, Cauley Woodrow and Michael Kightly at the start of this year.
The Brewers boss confirmed calls have been made and clubs contacted, and they are looking to line up a couple of their targets ahead of time.
But with clubs preparing for the hectic festive period and FA Cup third-round matches on the weekend of January 5-7, Burton will likely have to be patient in the market until other clubs have completed some of their own business and know the exact state of their own squads.
"We've made some calls in the last couple of weeks and made enquiries about players," said Clough.
"It's the usual replies at the moment: 'yes, if this happens and if we get somebody in then they should be available'.
"We will just keep going over the Christmas period, keep pestering people when they're closer to getting replacements in.
"The difficult thing is we can't watch anybody because most of the players we are targeting are substitutes or outside of squads.
"They might get used a little bit over Christmas, and then of course you've got the FA Cup at the start of January, and a lot of teams use their squads for that.
"So it's going to be mid-January, I would think, before we get definitive answers on the targets.
"We're trying to line one or two up, but it's still the case that nobody will commit at this stage."
Burton's business last January had a crucial role in keeping them in the Championship - and three of their six signings joined in the final week of the month.
Clough is under no illusions as to how pivotal the next few weeks could be for his side's safety this time around.
"It had such an impact last season," he added.
"I think we are in a similar position, we were probably a little bit better off 12 months ago.
"But the signings we brought in had a huge impact on securing our safety.
"We are hoping for a similar sort of January, but we can only get the players that we think are going to improve us, and we can only get the ones that are available.
"That's dictated by the market as much as anything.
"We've got our wishlist, we've got our targets and they're affordable in terms of the loans.
"It's just convincing people to let them out."
In terms of possible departures, Clough has said Albion will need to move players out to bring others in due to the size of their squad this season.
So have they had any approaches from other clubs at this stage?
"No - it's funny, because usually when people are just outside the 18, you get enquiries," he added.
"But I would think a few people leave it until after the Christmas period to see who is involved and who isn't over the Christmas period.
"We've had no enquiries at the moment.
"We've got decisions to make on loan players, and we'll see how many loan slots that frees up as well."
