New player movement rules, implemented this season, mean that EFL clubs must look to do the bulk of their business within the confines of the two transfer windows [summer and January] but one avenue which remains open is the free agent market, where players who are without clubs are able to secure deals to get them back on the pitch and playing again.
United boss Steven Pressley confirmed this morning that the free agent market is indeed something he’ll be keeping an eye on.
“Yes, of course, that’s something we can still consider,” he said. “I spoke to a manager north of the border who had signed a lot of players, but even he said that his club was also going to see what developed in the free agent market from what went on at the end of the window.
“It’s something we can consider, but we aren’t desperate now. I think we’ve got a good-sized squad and, from a personal point of view, you always have that number in your mind which you think is the ideal number.
“If you get the right number and balance you find you’re at a point where everybody feels part of it and you can create a really good bond.
“If you go beyond that you end up with players on the periphery of things and they start to feel left out of it. It’s finding that right blend.”
“When it comes to it, everybody will have their part to play,” he told us. “Look at Connor Simpson, he played 15 minutes at Port Vale and he keeps telling us again and again that he got the goal – and he’s been awarded it – so what a contribution to our season that could turn out to be.
“I want every player ready and wanting to do their nit, just like that, because there is still a lot of football to be played.”