The Blues appear unlikely to bring in a loan player before the weekend's home game with West Ham. Joe Royle said after Tuesday night's loss at Wigan that he wanted to bring in some new short-term signings.
The Town boss says he has an idea who he might want but as yet has made no approaches: "At the moment we are not close to getting anyone in but I have earmarked a couple of players I would like and things could be agreed quickly if necessary.
"The other thing is we have a two-week break after the West Ham game which gives us a cushion."
Town, with finances still very tight, would not be keen to bring in a loan player for a month only for a fortnight of that spell to be spent paying out wages purely for time on the training pitch. It seems more likely that a player could come in nearer the West Brom game on September 13th.
The exits of highly paid but unwanted players like Alun Armstrong and Andy Marshall would increase Town's ability to be able to bring in loan players, however there has been no serious interest from anyone wanting to take either player long-term.
Town have had loan bids for Armstrong from Derby and others, however the club would prefer him to leave on a permanent basis.
Meanwhile Marcus Bent is reported to be interesting Leeds and Leicester City. The Foxes were linked earlier in the summer but subsequently targeted other players.
Neither club looks in a position to afford to pay the kind of fee the Blues would want for the striker, who opened his account in the 1-1 draw with Coventry.
However, like the exit of Armstrong or Marshall, the departure of his wages would give Joe Royle more freedon to bring in new players.
The transfer window is up on Sunday, if any Premiership club really is interested in Marshall or Bent they will have to move quickly.