IAN Evatt says he will be looking to boost all areas of his Wanderers squad in January in an effort to make it “ultra-competitive”.

Dion Charles became the first signing of the winter window after signing a three-and-a-half year deal from Accrington Stanley, and Evatt hopes to sign another player before Tuesday’s Papa John’s Trophy game at Hartlepool.

The Whites have been linked with Fulham defender Marlon Fossey, who spent time on loan at Shrewsbury Town last season.

Evatt anticipates a busy month as he looks to upgrade his options and has not ruled out moving some of his existing squad on.

“We are actively looking to bring in more forwards, more midfield players, more defenders,” he said. “We know there’s some maintenance to do.

“Players will leave, players will come in. We want to better the squad as best we can.

“This squad of players did fantastically well to get us promoted last season at the first time of asking and started the season exceptionally well and we’ve just suffered with the injuries and we’ve suffered with depth.

“What we’re trying now to do is bring in the layers of depth that will make us ultra-competitive when we do lose one or two.”

Evatt has found out to his cost in recent months that the squad he brought into the season lacked the depth needed to cope with an increasingly congested fixture schedule.

“In the world we live in right now, you don’t know what’s around the corner, especially with the Covid scenario and situation so we have to have players that are capable to step in and step up to the same level and standard regardless of injuries or opposition,” he said.

“That’s what we’re trying to do and trying to create. I must say again the fact that we’re in this position to be able to do what we are doing is magnificent and where this club was two years ago, the board, Sharon and everyone associated behind the scenes, the commercial department are working tirelessly hard, Neil, the finance department, everybody.

“We’ve all had to muck in together and mostly the fans who have backed this club, they’ve bought tickets and now it’s time in a sustainable fashion and manner to improve again and try and get a squad that’s competitive in this league and get us back to the Championship.”