St Mirren are in for a hectic end to the January transfer window as Stephen Robinson looks to replace two midfield departures and bring in attacking reinforcements.
Saints star midfielder Ethan Erhahon, who has been with the club since he was five, completed a medical this morning ahead of his switch to Lincoln City.
With less than six months on his contract, and with the Paisley side only due training compensation if he moved to an English club at the end of the season, the Buddies have decided to allow the Scotland Under-21 cap to make the move to the League One side.
Another St Mirren midfielder expected to complete a move south of the border today is academy talent Dylan Reid.
The 17-year-old is set to join English Premier League side Crystal Palace today, as long as he passes his own medical, as the clubs are understood to have agreed a six-figure fee with some additional add-ons.
Saints boss Stephen Robinson admitted he was sorry to see Erhahon leave but backed him to shine in England's third tier.
Robinson told Renfrewshire Live Sport: "I'm delighted for both boys. Ethan will be a huge loss because he's arguably been one of my best players all season.
"He's been a pleasure to work with but opportunities arise. Ethan was out of contract and because of the circumstances we find ourselves in financially it was good business on behalf of the club. Ethan has played a lot of games and is at a great age.
"Dylan is still just a young boy that we spent a lot of time working with over the last six months. We felt he was getting to a stage where he was ready for the first team. We put him on against Hearts and he looked like a man.
"But Premier League clubs are paying for potential now and that's what Dylan has. He's got lots of it and Crystal Palace have conducted themselves very well throughout the transfer, which has to be credited."
The Buddies are also still anxiously waiting on the final scan results for their key striker Jonah Ayunga, which are set to arrive this afternoon.
While the influential forward could be facing weeks or months out of the team after hobbling off against Motherwell, Robinson is looking to bring in one more striker having already lost Eamonn Brophy on loan to Ross County.
Tony Watt has been heavily linked with the Paisley club, with the Scotland international set to leave Dundee United today.
While refusing to be drawn specifically on the 29-year-old, Robinson said he was keen to strengthen now that funds will be released following the sales of Erhahon and Reid.
Robinson said: "We've had to wait for the medicals on those two boys to then be able to go and recruit. There's going to be some last-minute dealings, which is not the way I like to do business.
"We'll react because that's left a gap in our squad, especially in terms of numbers. We're very thin now so it's about getting bodies through the door.
"We've got targets but at this late stage a lot of them are disappearing very quickly. We got our players in very early in the summer and did a lot of due diligence, it's harder to do that in January. It'll be a case of who is available at this late stage. We'll have everything in place
"We're worried about Jonah. We'll know more this afternoon and Gerry Docherty [physio] will guide us in terms of when he'll be back. Best case scenario would be a few weeks but we'll have to wait and see.
"I think at this stage everyone's a player of interest. I can't talk about anyone else's players. Tony is a Dundee United player and it's wrong to speak about other clubs players.
"It depends on who is available and who wants to come. We need a striker through the door and we've lost two midfielders and we'll be looking to replace those. I would say two new additions would be the maximum."
Robinson is also increasingly hopeful of keeping hold of Australia international Keanu Baccus, who was yesterday linked with a switch to Wigan Athletic having been monitored by several clubs throughout January.
Asked if there had been any movement on Baccus, Robinson added: "Not to my knowledge at this stage. Replacing even more players at this stage would be extremely difficult.
"Keanu will be back from suspension for Aberdeen. We've given him a few days off so he'll be refreshed and ready to go."
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