Boss Paul Simpson hopes he will be able to bring new faces into the Shrewsbury Town squad after the loan transfer window re-opens on Tuesday.

Simpson drew a blank in his bid to bring in reinforcements during January, striker John O’Flynn rejecting a move despite his club Barnet accepting a £100,000 bid.

Town were continuing with the same squad for this afternoon’s League Two trip to Macclesfield, but Simpson is eager to give himself more options.

“I think we have to be looking because our squad is very small,” said Simpson.

“Our right-back Dean Holden has been struggling, so that has left us short defensively.

“We’ve got Jake Robinson, Dave Hibbert and Kris Bright as three strikers, and Andre Gray comes back into it now – but he’s not ready to go straight into the first team yet.

“In my opinion, we need more players in the squad. We’ve got to always be looking to strengthen.”

In Holden’s absence, youth teamer Danny Taylor has been deputising at right-back.

He had two starts and two substitute appearances to his name before today’s game, where he was expected to continue his run in the side.

But Simpson is eager to ensure he looks after Taylor, and his clutch of young players who have been blooded this season, by preventing them from burn-out.

“You have to look after them,” added the Town boss. “The last thing we want to do is end up with Danny playing too many games and suffering as a result.”