KARL Robinson says he knows who his targets are in the January transfer window for Oxford United.
The window opens in 29 days, with rumours circulating as to who could join the U’s.
Former United loanee Marcus Browne and Ipswich Town striker James Norwood are two of the names being linked with a move to Grenoble Road.
Robinson refused to comment on the duo in particular but said they were the standard of player he would look to recruit next month.
See also: Robinson on player doubts following Covid and goalkeeper dilemma
He said: “That is the calibre. If you’re going to do anything in January, it cannot be to fill a gap, it’s to make this team stronger.
“It’s a horrific window, we all know that, we know how hard it is to get it right.
“As for names, I think it’s unfair to speak of players who are trying to still get in the teams that they play for.”
Browne spent the 2018/19 season on loan with United from West Ham, and the second half of the 2019/20 campaign from Middlesbrough, scoring 14 goals across both spells.
The attacker has struggled with injuries on Teesside and is yet to feature this season.
A loan move would benefit Browne as he steps up his recovery from an ACL injury, with United one of a number of Sky Bet League One clubs linked with a deal in January.
Robinson however said it was not a move which had been spoken about.
He said: “We’ve not had any conversation, and whether we need that position or not, we have so many different ideas.”
Read also: Robinson ‘confident’ Kane will stay beyond January
On Norwood, Robinson said: “I’m certainly not going to speak of any Cooky’s [Paul Cook] players because everyone knows how close we are.”
Norwood has struggled for game time at Portman Road this season, managing just 22 minutes of action.
The 31-year-old scored 92 goals in 180 games for Tranmere Rovers, prior to joining Ipswich in July 2019.
The Suffolk side signed 19 players in the summer, in a huge squad overhaul under Cook.
Among the new faces were five strikers, including Joe Pigott, Sone Aluko and 11-goal Macauley Bonne.
Robinson said any incomings next month would have to be balanced by players leaving the club.
He said: “They’re [Browne and Norwood] not the only players, there’s two or three players who I think are top, top drawer for this level and have done it at this level before.
“We’ll obviously lose some players internally to make way, I don’t think we can carry any more players on top of the squad we already have.
“I think it’s unfair if we bring players in and keep the amount of players that we already have here because they have to play as well.
“There’ll be a transition of ins and outs, it’s important that there’ll only be an in if that in makes the team stronger, and that is our objective.
“We have an internal plan, we know who we want and we just have to try over the next four weeks to get close to getting some deals done.”
Last season, United added Brandon Barker and Elliot Lee to their ranks in January, on loan from Rangers and Luton Town respectively, with both helping spearhead the U’s to the play-offs.
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