Paul Simpson is eager to spruce up his Shrewsbury Town squad during the January transfer window – but revealed players may have to go first.

Shrewsbury go into what is sure to be a frenzied month of transfer activity across football sitting in fourth place in League Two after back-to-back away wins at Bradford and Chesterfield.

Simpson remains keen to strengthen his squad ahead of a second half push for promotion, but expects he will first have to reduce his wage bill at the Prostar Stadium.

“The areas I would like to bring (players) in, I need to shift bodies,” he said.

“Moving Glyn Garner out will create a little bit of space with the money we save there, but we are in a position where we have got players who aren’t playing at the moment. If they go, it might just create a bit of space.”

Simpson remains keen on adding fresh competition to his defensive options.

And he is also keen to bring in a striker to supplement the dozen goals scored by leading scorer Dave Hibbert.

“I’ve got five or six strikers in the club and, so far, it hasn’t really worked out for them,” he added. “If we want to do anything, we have got to have a right push to get another striker who will get goals for us.

“This weekend, without Dean Holden we are short of a right back.

“It would be daft to bring a right back in for just one game because I think Dean has been our most consistent player this season.

“We will go with what we have got for this weekend but I still think we need some sort of cover defensively – whether it be centre half or one of the full-back areas.”