A list of potential new recruits has already been drawn up by Alan Knill ahead of the January transfer window.

With Scunthorpe United struggling at the wrong end of the table, the manager is keen to strengthen.

To do that will almost certainly require players moving in the opposite direction, with the club’s playing budget already stretched.

Nevertheless, Knill says he has had some ‘positive’ conversations with the board of directors.

“We’re looking,” he said of the search for fresh faces.

“When the window comes around we’ll try to be positive within that window.

“I think we need to strengthen, but obviously we have to work within a budget.

“That may need players leaving, going out, to get players in, we’re not quite sure yet.

“But we are definitely looking.

“We’ve been looking since the last window closed.

“It does become more difficult. January is a difficult time.

“But there are some players out there.

“We’ve targeted some players, whether or not that comes about is another thing.

“But you should have a list of players to go to, if you need.

“We have and it’s a big time for us.

“We want to strengthen the squad but, at the same time, it has to be the right sort of player that’s going to come into the areas that we think we need.

“I think we need a boost.

“We need some players to give us a boost at the moment, so we’ll definitely look.

“There’s always a conversation with the board and they’re always positive and always helpful.

“I’m quite sure that will continue.”

However, Knill is wary of the downsides of the January sales, including the potential to unsettle players.

Several of the Scunthorpe squad are out of contract at the end of the season, including midfielder Michael O’Connor, and talk is sure to centre around their future.

“I’m not a fan of the January window. I’m not a fan of the transfer window full stop,” said Knill.

“I just don’t see what it does.

“It seems ridiculous that, and I’ll speak from a small club’s point of view, if I have a player that is worth X amount of pounds, I might need that money in October.

“I should be able to sell him in October and not wait until January.

“And also, it does make it difficult for players coming out of contract.

“In that January window there’s a lot of talk about them, it unsettles them.

“I don’t think it should just be specifically in January.

“If someone’s for sale, they should be for sale.

“I don’t know why they do it in the two windows. I think it makes it more difficult for everybody, especially smaller clubs.

“If a striker does well from the start of the season, everyone’s talking about January and where he’s going to go.

“I had Will Hoskins at Rotherham and every week it was, ‘he’s going here, he’s going there’.

“In the end he went to Watford. But you could see it is disruptive.”