MARK Cooper isn’t one to be taken in by the pomp and circumstance reserved by the media for transfer deadline day.

The Swindon Town manager, who is not expecting to be cornered by Sky Sports cameras outside the Robins’ Liddington training ground half-an-hour before the transfer window shuts at 11pm, would rather get his head down and focus on last-minute preparations ahead of the visit of Oldham Athletic tomorrow than enjoy the company of Jim White up until tonight’s deadline.

Cooper does not see the merit in last-ditch dealings, particularly in January when he feels the buying club is always going to come off worse.

“It always amazes me why everybody waits til the last day,” he said. “You’ve got a month to do it and you’d have thought the groundwork would be done. It makes it more exciting for the viewers and the listeners and the readers all to be happening at five to whatever it is.

“I’m sure it will be good fun but I’m sure it will be pretty quiet here.

“I’m in the camp where I think if you go into the market in January you’re paying over the odds. I’m sure that transfers that go through - the big ones - are for a lot more money than they would have been if they were in July.

“It’s usually the teams that need to kick on to win the title or secure promotion that need to strengthen. Obviously it circulates the money round the game, from top to bottom, and there has to be a transfer market for the smaller clubs to survive.

“It interests me but I’ll read about it. I won’t wait up and watch the last knockings, I’ll be purely focusing on Oldham on Saturday.”