Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes has outlined the poker-like dynamics of the final days of the transfer window as he prepares to add to his squad.
McInnes is closing in on the loan signing of 18-year-old Liverpool left-back Luke Chambers and is also keen to sign a forward player ahead of Tuesday’s midnight deadline.
McInnes said: “There are still a couple of positions I’d like to deal with. I am hopeful for one soon and then maybe another before the deadline. I’d like to get a bit more pace and creativity at the top end of the pitch.
“With the injury to Ben Chrisene, we have been looking at various options to fill that void and Luke is an option we are quite far down the line with.
“There might be one or two maybe go out as well, potentially on loan. These things don’t always have to happen before the window closes, if you go out on loan to a lower division in Scotland.
“It gets called the January window but it’s really only the last week that things start to motor, unless you’ve got riches. You see deals get done early on when teams pay way over the odds.
“The selling club, when they have a player teams want, normally doesn’t need to do anything. Sometimes it’s a game of poker, sometimes things need to fall into place.
“While you are having the same conversations you had in the last couple of days in December, sometimes you feel you are no further on.
“Sometimes there’s a domino effect if they get one in and sometimes it changes even with injuries later on. The fact we are in a transfer window helps us react to Ben’s injury.
“Sometimes you can get your hopes up and it’s important to see it as it is. Agents can put a different slant on things.
“Even now we have asked the question about five or six different players who may become available in the last 24 hours, if their clubs can get someone in.
“Sometimes, do you blink early and take a player you don’t really want but someone you know you can get? Or do you wait and get what you need rather than just filling a void?
“It’s important to stay calm but you can never really trust the whole situation to be honest, there’s too many variables.
“At times things you think are going to be a formality are not the case and sometimes things can come up from nowhere and if you have held your nerve, you might be able to get him.”
