IAN Evatt is hopeful he won’t be left scrabbling around for signings at the end of the January window.

Wanderers have identified a handful of signings to boost their slender squad for the second half of the League One season.

Accrington’s Dion Charles could be the first permanent deal through the door, although Evatt has confirmed that Xavier Amaechi has also extended his loan deal from Hamburg.

He is now looking to get more business done, with an attacking midfielder also high on the list of priorities.

“It isn’t a scattergun approach, it is strategic,” Evatt said.

“I have never really understood people doing loads of business on the last day of windows. For me it looks a bit desperate.

“Why wouldn’t you want players in the building at the start of January if you believe they can make a difference to your squad?

“It might not be the case that we get everyone in on the first week but we are going to try really hard to do it.

“If we can’t, we may have to be patient. But we have a set number of players, a set number of targets of a certain quality we are looking to do.

“We have already made contact with all the parent clubs, so hopefully we get those deals over the line.”

The ongoing Covid situation in football is likely to have an impact on Wanderers’ recruitment – especially with the players they intend to sign on loan.

Bolton are hoping that the targets they have identified will not be held back to cover for illnesses at their parent clubs.

Evatt should also have his options boosted with the return of Gethin Jones, Amadou Bakayoko and Andy Tutte over the coming weeks.

“We have a plan for recruitment and fortunately for us, barring the two real long-term injuries in Josh Sheehan and Lloyd Isgrove, everyone is very close to being able to play,” he said.

“I stress, some of their recovery has been hampered by Covid and we might have to be a little bit more patient with some of them.

“When you are signing players, those vaccination certificates are going to become more valuable. We can’t afford now to have players unavailable.

“They have to give themselves the best chance of some level of immunity from the virus.”