THE January transfer window hasn't been the hive of activity that Premiership and Championship teams have come to expect. And it's a novelty that we are still adjusting to.

But that's not to say things aren't going to happen for Accrington Stanley this month.

Thankfully, our phone hasn't rung with enquiries about any of our young stars, such as Gary Roberts, and hopefully it won't do either. Even if it means unplugging the thing! As far as we are concerned, no-one's for sale.

But we have made enquiries of our own, and I do feel that we need a couple of new players to boost our squad.

As it stands, we have a squad of 16 or 17 players to choose from. We've been very fortunate in the last couple of months that we've not had any fresh injuries, and our only suspension has been Ian Craney. We may not get that lucky again, so we need to add to our current crop, especially when you take into account the busy period that's coming up.

Whether we get them or not is another matter, but we are always on the lookout for quality players.

Personally, I fail to see what purpose the transfer window serves in the Conference.

For teams in the Premiership, business has to get done in a certain time and maybe that is useful for balancing teams out a bit.

But all the window has done for teams at this level is make managers better at wheeling and dealing when it comes to making loan signings, because they've been our get-out clause.

Transfer windows don't work in non-league or the lower leagues. If anything, the system hinders people and I think it will be scrapped in the next couple of years.

Having said that, it may have worked to our advantage on this occasion.

While there isn't money to be bandied about, being top of the league may be a useful bargaining tool for us in attracting the better players.

Saturday will be a chance for us to at least sustain our gap at the top, although at Canvey Island it will be no mean feat after their Boxing Day and New Year wins over Grays Athletic.

Then there's the midweek trip to Tamworth. It is always an intimidating place to go, but they are struggling this season and hopefully their weekend FA Cup game with Stoke City will prove to be a distraction that we can take advantage of.

Before we went to Grays in November, I said we would be top by Christmas, and this time next week, we could be looking at an even healthier lead.