Steve Davis pleased to have got the bulk of his business done early.

Steve Davis says it was important to keep his squad together as much as he could for the second half of the season. The Alex boss and his staff have conducted their business as quickly as they possibly could to make sure that his five ‘new players’ are all available to face Gillingham tomorrow.

Defenders Greg Leigh and Alan Tate have extended their loan deals until the end of the season. Fellow defender Anthony Stewart has also signed on a six-month contract after impressing on loan from Wycombe Wanderers.

Stoke City midfielder Jamie Ness signed on loan until the end of the season and he was instantly joined by the Leeds United striker Nicky Ajose.

Davis is pleased that he has been able to keep his squad together after integrating the five players into the club at various stages.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “I just felt it was important to keep the group together as much as we could. If you have to bring in a new loan then it is like you are starting all over again with them.

“The players have been here before, settled in and know what we want them to do. They are a part of the club and know how we play.

“They have all contributed and improved what we already had here. That is why I was so keen to keep them until the end of the season.

“They have come from big clubs and want to show people what they can do. They have a point to prove and want to show that they should be in their team or playing higher than League One. That is an ideal situation to be in.

He added: “I hope that we can carry on from where we left off at the end of the year. We want to be stronger in the second half of the season and make a much better start than we did in the first half of the season when we didn’t win in our first 11 games. We want to be doing a lot better than that.”