JOHN Coleman says he is pleased to have succeeded in his aim to get transfer business done early, but admitted there is still scope for more.

The Stanley boss did not hang around as the turn of the year triggered the window, moving quickly to make Callum Johnson's loan a permanent deal from Middlesbrough before adding free agents Danny Williams and Akeel Francis and more recently Droylsden goalkeeper Jonny Maxted on an 18-month deal.

Coleman admitted the January window had taken on extra significance since the emergency loan moves outside of the summer and January transfer windows were scrapped in 2016. But he has been deliberately more cautious in the loan market than he was 12 months ago, after admitting he signed too many last year. Jimmy Dunne (Burnley), Offrande Zanzala (Derby) and Charlie Rowan (Watford) are the only temporary moves made so far.

“We’re not new to it now, we know the (January) situation," said Coleman.

"We wanted to get our business done quite early, which we did thankfully, then you’re not panicking. If there’s something that stands out then we’ve still got the facility to take somebody. We were determined not to go down the road of what we did in the last window when we had eight loanees.

“It’s a funny one really because we had a little bit of an overhaul last year in January and I think it’s healthy. You’re not going to get every signing you make right and a lot of time you’re taking educated punts.

“We had found our bench severely weakened (this season), and this is no disrespect to the young lads but they aren’t ready yet. I think we went through a stage where we had to name a childminder on the bench they were that young! So we needed the squad strengthening and we needed healthy competition for places and I think we’ve got that.

"We’ve signed a couple of players and getting Callum on board on a permanent I thought was a great bit of business for us, and long term for the club that will be an investment."

But while the Reds chief is not desperately searching for more new faces before the window closes next week, he hasn't ruled out further additions.

“We’re in a situation now where if something happens in the next week we can dip our toe in and take another player, because we’ve only got three (loans), so that suits us really," said Coleman, who has backed all of his January intake to challenge for a first team place.

“They shouldn’t be here if they can’t go straight into the first team, that’s for sure. I don’t want them thinking that they’ve just come to be subs – they’re not. They’ve come to threaten for a place and have a big part in the outcome of our season, which we hope will be prosperous."