NIGEL Clough says that although he would have liked to have filled another loan slot, he is happy with his January transfer dealings.
The Brewers have brought in three players on loan - Darren Bent (Derby County), Martin Samuelsen (West Ham) and Jacob Davenport (Manchester City).
Clough said: “We have brought three good players in. Ideally, we would have liked one more to fill that final loan slot, but we tried in vain. We have a tight knit squad between now and the end of the season but that’s fine and we have plenty of options within that.”
Stephen Warnock and Matty Lund (on loan to Bradford) and Matty Palmer (permanent to Rotherham) left the club during the window.
Clough said: “We had a couple of informal chats with Matty at the start of the season about a new deal and we didn’t receive any encouragement or anything positive from him so when we got the offer in, which was the only one we get for any member of the squad, it was in the best interests of everybody that we accepted the offer. He has done well for the club for a few years, but he moves on to a new challenge.
“Stephen Warnock started the season, but Tom Flanagan got back in and has been one of our most consistent players. At Stephen’s age he wants to play regular football. Matty Lund has been in and out and we haven’t played well enough as a team to accommodate him and the way he plays. Illness and injury haven’t helped, and he just wanted to get out and play games as well.”
Clough hopes that the new faces will give his squad a boost after a run of three Championship defeats.
He said: “The last two home games we have had an opportunity to get off the bottom of the league and stop that run and we are incredibly disappointed. We were extremely poor on Tuesday night and the fans are entitled to boo.
"Now we go to Villa Park and no-one will give us a chance so we will go there and play. They were pre-season favourites for promotion and are now getting up there and challenging and it would be no surprise if they made the top two and if not go through the play offs. When you look at the strength of the bench, Steve Bruce has a very good squad to compete. And even when Steve’s teams aren't playing brilliantly and are under the cosh, they don’t concede."