Luke Williams "very confident" of Swindon Town additions before Shrewsbury clash

Swindon Town head coach Luke Williams is expecting new arrivals at the County Ground "sooner rather than later" and is "very confident" he will have more bodies at his disposal for Saturday.

The Robins meet with fellow relegation-threatened Shrewsbury Town in Wiltshire on Saturday in what is a cliche 'six-pointer' for the two sides fighting against dropping into League Two.

Williams has previously expressed the need for signings in the winter window on multiple occasions earlier on in the season, as have chairman Lee Power and director of football Tim Sherwood, but the need for more players is even more crucial now following QPR's decision to recall Michael Doughty and Darnell Furlong from their season-long loans prematurely. 

He said that even before losing the pair Swindon were going to add to the squad but that it does not "drastically" alter the strategy.

"I think (losing the two loanees) may have changed (our plans) certainly but I should think not drastically to be honest.

"There's probably still the same amount of players that we are looking to bring in."

January has normally been quite quiet for Town. Last season Swindon only made one signing in the new year, coincidentally Doughty on loan, while the season before only another loanee - John Swift joined along with Jermaine Hylton on a free from Redditch. The last time Swindon paid a fee for a January addition was for Michael Smith and George Barker (both undisclosed) in the 2013-14 campaign.

When asked if he can expect new faces for the Shrewsbury game, Williams responded: "I am very confident we will have players in.

"As always I don't get involved heavily in that side of things. I trust people at the club whose job it is to bring players in of which I have got no doubt.

"We're all pulling in the same direction so when they come in, I don't know exactly, I expect it to be sooner rather than later."

Williams' input in transfer policy at SN1 has been reduced, if not completely ended, by the arrival of Sherwood in November who is now the man responsible for identifying targets and ensuring they have signed a contract at the club.

Therefore, Williams said he was not sure what specific positions will be strengthened in the next month.

"No (I don't know positions targeted). Not as precise as that yet but I'll be told when it becomes relevant to me and I look forward to working with the new players. "

A specific number of potential buys and/or loans was not given due to him "not (being) as heavily involved on that side of things" but he revealed "going on discussions (he) has had I think there is a sensible approach to it.

"With Doughts and Darnell potentially going back there was probably already that approach to it."

To conclude, Williams told the local media that he will be "amazed if (Sherwood) is not" using his contacts in the game to attract players.

"If he's turned the phone off during this month it would be a terrible tactic," he joked.

"He's connected with every single top club in the country and he's got a fantastic repuatation with working with young players and getting the best out of them so I would imagine Tim is having as many people approaching him as he is approaching other people so there will be lots of networking going on and that will be fantastic for us."