Boss Kieran McKenna’s transfer plans for the final fortnight of the window haven’t been altered by his side's impressive start and says that striker isn’t necessarily the position where he will be looking for a new recruit before the window closes on September 1st.
Town have taken 10 points from their first 12 and are top of League One by a point but McKenna says nothing he has seen in the opening games has caused him to have a rethink when it comes to adding to his squad.
"No, no changes on that,” he insisted. "We know what qualities we have in the building and we know what we want to add and that hasn’t changed over the course of a few games or a few results.”
Town are understood to have been chasing Leicester striker George Hirst for much of the summer but McKenna says it’s more about a player’s individual attributes when it comes to making a signing rather than their generally accepted role.
"Not necessarily position, no. We look at attributes and qualities we have in the squad and what we need to add and there are some qualities at the front half of the pitch that we want to be able to add and we are continuing to work very hard in doing so.”
It’s more about what a player can bring rather than their positional label? "I think that’s important in our play, we don’t necessarily define and pigeon-hole players to a certain position.
"Marcus Harness brings us certain qualities that we will try to utilise in the team in different positions and different roles across the season and that’s how we think about it with our recruitment.
"Whether that’s Marcus Harness or Greg Leigh or any of the other players that we’ve signed, we sign them for their qualities and what they can bring to us in this division and we’re continuing to look to do that right until the end of the window.”
McKenna cites his use of Janoi Donacien in a hybrid right-back/right centre-half position since he has come to the club.
"He’s a good example. He brings that athleticism, he brings height and presence, he’s decent aerially and he brings the ability to make forward runs,” he said.
"I’m not interested in defining his position as such, more what he brings and which of those attributes we’re going to need in any given game.”
And the role he plays has then been tailored around Donacien’s attributes? "Not necessarily just around Janoi but I believe in tailoring systems and how we play according to the qualities of the players.
"So he’s one important player for us and we try and play in a way that suits his game, but certainly not just Janoi, it’s also about the people around him that we have in the building and the people that we bring into the building.
"I think it is fair to say that that is a principle here that we try and adapt and utilise the quality of the players and don’t pigeon-hole them into roles that might not suit them so well.”