Doncaster Rovers manager Gary McSheffrey ready to hit the ground running with new faces on and off the field

Having had three years at the club working as the under-23 and under-18s manager and four matches as caretaker first-team manager, and having been involved in discussions about January recruitment, McSheffrey knows the issues he wants to address and how.

Six points adrift of safety and with the transfer window effectively opening on Monday, the day after the League One trip to Morecambe, he knows he needs to act fast and has his eye on an assistant manager, potentially a set-piece coach and ideally "four or five" signings, with an emphasis on experience in some positions. He has also hinted some loans could be cancelled.

"We've had a couple of recruitment meetings, we've got some targets," he said of the January transfer plans. "We want to bring in some permanent signings that are available in January.

They might be on short-term contracts or might be released from their contracts by other clubs because they're surplus to requirements and then we want to make good decisions on what we do in the loan market. Do we send one or two back to free up space?

"In an ideal world we'll be looking at trying to get four or five decent additions to the squad and the group we work with every day now, we'll be trying to get every ounce out of them.

"Ultimately we've got a person at the club paid to be the contact who brings things to the table and we agree or disagree collectively on (targets). We've got a few irons in the fire but it's about making sure we've got a plan B and plan C as well.

"Ultimately I've got to work with players every day and if I feel they're not the right characters to integrate with the squad and help youngsters through I'll express that opinion but I respect the fact we've got a recruitment team. I won't micro-manage everything and put spoilers and stops on everything."

Doncaster have players on loan at present. Manchester United's Northern Ireland international Ethan Galbraith has been a key player, as has Arsenal midfielder Matthew Smith but Watford goalkeeper Pontus Dahlberg lost his place to Louis Jones at the start of November.

Attacking players Rodrigo Vilca, from Newcastle United, and Watford's Tiago Cukur, have started seven and 10 league matches respectively this season, each scoring once.

There are also additions to be made to the coaching staff, and it seems highly likely former Chelsea defender Frank Sinclair, who has assisted McSheffrey as caretaker, will be given that job permanently.

"We've got a coaching team in place at the minute that have been helping me," said the former winger. "I've got scope to bring in an assistant, a goalkeeping coach, a set-piece coach if we take up that option or a part-time coach, whatever type of coach we want to call that coach, and that's going to be important.

"That's really going to be important. We don't want to rush into it too much, we have to get it right.

"There's a couple of options we're down the line with and in terms of the part-time set-piece one, that's one we're not going to rush into immediately, that will be a little bit longer."

McSheffrey's former Roves team-mate Tommy Rowe, now the club's most experienced player, has backed the new appointment.