SIMON Cox admits he is more or less resigned to a future away from Premiership Reading - as Town close in on a more temporary striking solution.

While Swindon stepped up their efforts to land the Royals' striker permanently yesterday, with an official bid now submitted, caretaker boss Dave Byrne revealed he was close to unveiling a former Premier League squad player on loan.

Town's transfer dealings are still limited by the embargo slapped on them by the Football League, but with chairman elect Andrew Fitton close to finally sealing the takeover, they could resume normal business in the next couple of days.

Number one target Cox does not expect a decision to be made on his future until late January but Byrne revealed he was hoping to announce at least one new player by the end of the week, with the move already agreed to in principle.

Maurice Malpas is still waiting to be officially appointed Town boss but Byrne, who will be his assistant manager, insists the former Dundee United man has already given him the green light to press ahead.

Byrne said: "We have been assured one player will come in on loan and hopefully by the end of the week we can give his name and when he arrives.

"My recommendation is you need three, maybe four players to add to the squad. If we can get them in we won't be too far away by the end of the season.

"Maurice will have to hit the ground running because of the situation, but he has been brilliant. He has said keep hitting the targets you have gone for.

"So he has more or less said he trusts my judgement, which is fantastic.

"The official bid has gone in for Simon. I have had no phone call saying there has been a rejection on the offer so as far as I am concerned no news is good news."

Town are believed to have offered around £200,000 for Cox, who was a revelation during his nine-goal loan spell at the County Ground earlier this season.

He was forced to return to the Madejski at the start of this month, with Reading anxious to see what materialised during the transfer window.

While the potential departure of Leroy Lita may make Steve Coppell more reluctant to let Cox go, the presence of Dave Kitson, Kevin Doyle and Shane Long ahead of him in the queue make a Reading future unlikely.

He said: "I had a meeting with their director of football Nicky Hammond the other day and he said no decisions would be made on my future until first the embargo is lifted at Swindon and then towards the end of January.

"They obviously want to see what happens with the strikers they have at the club who are currently ahead of me. Although even if one leaves it seems I still won't get regular football.

"I couldn't stress enough that I want to play football every week and from the meeting it seems as though that won't happen for me at Reading.

"I am more or less waiting for them to tell me to leave now. Until they tell me that I can't make any decision so I don't think it will be until the last week of January."

League One rivals Northampton Town and Brighton are just a couple of a long line of other interested parties but, unless a Championship club makes a last-ditch move, Town are best positioned.

He said: "It is no secret I loved my time at Swindon and would certainly go back if it was the right move."

With the transfer window only open for another few weeks, Byrne knows Town will have to move quickly but insists Malpas' imminent arrival will not hinder the process.

He said: "He has been given a real good dossier on what we have and what we need and he's beavering away behind the scenes at the moment."