Hamilton Accies missed out on a transfer deadline signing on Tuesday, but boss John Rankin is confident of bringing in at least one new face ahead of the visit by Dundee on Saturday.
Rankin says he and the club have been working hard on further recruitment, but has been pleased with the four players he has brought in this month.
Dylan Stephenson scored on his debut in the 1-0 Championship win over Partick Thistle at Firhill on Saturday, while captain Dylan McGowan, Tom Sparrow and recent recruit Connor Smith have all made an impact.
Rankin said: “We were looking to get one over the line yesterday (Tuesday) but that was part of a chain, and we knew that was going to be the case.
“With a big transfer that always gives the club options, whether it be to bring somebody in, which maybe affects us, if they can’t.
“We’ve been working at numerous things, some we knew wouldn’t go through before last night, and we’ve still got the loan market to look at [which runs until the end of February].”
When asked if Rankin thinks he might get somebody in before Friday, he said: “Yes. It’s not false hope. We have been continually working with clubs and with players.
“Both player and club knew the situation that we were in at the time and all three parties – us, the club and the player – were comfortable with what was going on.
“What we need is to get off the bottom of the table, and anything that can improve us obviously sticks out.
“The players that have come in have strengthened us, and it needs to be more of the same ilk.
“I don’t think there’s any point in taking people who are going to be squad players, they need to come in and improve us straight away.
“Dylan Stephenson came in, scored the goal and took the headlines, but the other three recruits that have come in during this window have certainly helped as well, if you look at the impact that Dylan McGowan and Tom Sparrow have had.
“I was really pleased with Connor when he came on for his 45 minutes on Saturday as well.”
Accies are on a run of four straight wins as they host Dundee and Rankin said: “Hopefully it is things clicking into place for us. We’ve worked tirelessly as a group, but sometimes you don’t get results.”
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