There is still plenty of work to be done at Swindon Town ahead of the January transfer window closing on Thursday night.

It has been a very busy January at the County Ground in many regards, but 13 players have either arrived or left this month and with the signing of Zack Elbouzedi, the squad is now back to the same size it was at the start of the month.

The injury crisis has slightly abated, but Gavin Gunning is still working with a paper-thin squad that requires further depth. If everything that needs to be done gets done, then the final day of this window will be a very frantic one. Being unable to pay any kind of fee and having to rely on loans and taking over contracts complicates things further, but business must be done.

Working from back to front, a reserve goalkeeper will be a necessity. Jack Bycroft is presently the only senior goalkeeper at the club and Redman Evans is being asked to feature for both the under-18s and first-team, which does not feel sustainable moving forward.

A grizzled veteran, preferably with a beard they didn’t used to have, who can act as a mentor to Bycroft and help him develop would be a useful addition. Ideally, Town would sign Mister Miyagi to coach him without him knowing he is being coached, as well as being able to step in if needed, like when he beat up Jonny Lawrence at Halloween.

I think the centre-backs are fairly well set with the arrivals of Conor McCarthy and Pharrell Johnson, but Swindon are still in need of a right-back. At present, only Udoka Godwin-Malife can play out there and he has played all but one game this season. Gunning likes to have one full-back be more defensive than the other, but Swindon seemed to lack a little bit of guile in the final third without Remeao Hutton against Bradford City.

If they can find a right-back, preferably with the versatility to play on the left, who has strong delivery then that would help to add more creativity to the attack. Does anyone know if the club remain in talks with Rob Hunt?

In the midfield, I think Swindon have the right profiles for Gunning, but another holding midfielder to add competition for Saidou Khan would be of use. The Gambian international is the only real defensive-minded midfielder in this squad and bringing in something of an anchor would offer another dimension and add further steel.

Khan put in a very strong showing against Bradford and showed himself to be the first choice but he has been prone to dips in form across his two seasons so bringing in someone to help push him and provide a platform for the more creative players would be smart, as well as being an option to help close out games.

The Elbouzedi signing seems like a good one to add greater versatility to the forward line and a more natural winger should Gunning want one. But there is still no option to properly cover for Charlie Austin without asking Paul Glatzel or Rushian Hepburn-Murphy to play a different role. Gunning is looking for a striker who can drop in and link play and one with size to them will help with the plan to have greater verticality.

Tom Nichols is the rumour doing the rounds and he has shown himself to be good at linking play and has periodically had an eye for goal. He lacks the size I would covet but as a rotation player, he could be a good addition.