Boss says he is working on another new face before deadline closes at 11pm this evening.

David Artell is not ruling out a ‘grandstand finish’ to the January transfer window. The Alex boss says he and his staff will continue to work on any potential loan move for another new face and he is not ruling out another to join Michael Nottingham, who signed on loan from Blackpool.

The Alex boss admits: “It has been a tough month and it is always is. I am not complaining because that is part of the job but it feels as though I’ve played the same amount of games as the players!

“I will be relieved when the window closes. I spoke to a manager yesterday for half an hour and he isn’t a manager at the moment, but has been a very successful one, and he told me that ‘he is having his best January for a while.’

“I am sure he was saying it with a wry smile but I know what he means. It is a tiring month and we will see how successful our window has been in late April. The proof will be in the pudding.

“If we can do what we want to do today then there could be a grandstand finish to the window and I think that would put us in a stronger position.

“There is no point thinking ‘well we will be alright in March because the injured will be back playing’, we have to take care of our business now. By March we could have lost too many games and that could be the difference between top three or even slipping out of the play-offs. We will look to act now.”