Shaymen chasing two other targets in their search for a new striker

The Shaymen had identified the man they wanted to bring in to bolster their forward line, but as the Courier reported earlier this week, the move hit a stumbling block.

But Millington says other options are in the pipeline.

"There is a snag that may not be resolvable with the first target,” said the Town boss.

"However, there's two others we're keenly chasing.

"One of them, there will be a decision made on whether he's allowed out from his parent club at the end of this week, and the other one, the player is weighing up one or two options and is going to make a decision in the next couple of days.

"So we're working incredibly hard to try and persuade these lads that a move to Halifax Town would be beneficial for them."

When asked if a new forward would be brought in before Saturday’s game at Notts County, Millington said: “Possibly not but we're certainly doing everything we can to try and make it happen.”

On whether he understood the frustration of the Town supporters over the lack of a new striker being signed, the Town manager said: "I'd say it is frustrating and it's not for lack of effort that we haven't got one in yet."

Midfielder Kian Spence is expected to be the only current absentee in with a chance of returning on Saturday, with Millington hopeful he will be available.

"He trained on Monday with the intention of being available to train again on Friday, so if he comes through training on Friday we'll do our best to get him involved on Saturday," said the Halifax boss.

Millington also confirmed that winger Milli Alli missed Wednesday’s defeat to Scunthorpe due to tactical reasons rather than injury.

"We thought we had options for the wings on the pitch, who could move out to the wings, and we Yamen on the bench so we felt it wasn't necessary to have another winger on the bench,” he said.

Millington told the Courier after Town’s defeat against Scunthorpe that there would be changes in personnel and system at Notts County as he attempts to find a winning formula.

The Town boss added that the 4-2-3-1 formation Halifax have set-up in of late has been part of the problem.

"It is when we're missing certain players,” he said. “I think certain players not being available makes it much harder for us to be successful in that shape.

"So shape's something we've got to look at really closely and say 'right, how do we deploy this group of players most effectively?' and that's something we will reflect on, make a decision on and then hit them on Friday with what we're going to do to try and beat Notts County."

Whatever changes are made on Saturday, one player who won’t drop out of the side, unless he’s injured, will be Jack Senior, who was Town’s best player on Wednesday night.

"I think Jack Senior was fantastic, he gave the performance of a lad who really cares,” Millington said.

"That was one of the only pleasing things for me, was seeing a lad like Jack this season become a man in a football sense.

"He's someone I'm very proud to work with and be associated with.

"There's others as well who come out of it with some credit and maybe they stand out more when they're able to manage their standards and keep their standards high, even when those around them are struggling.

"So we've got to give the lads credit who deserve it and Jack would certainly be one of those for me."

Notts County are second in the National League, have yet to lose a home game this season and have the division’s top scorer in 22-goal Macaulay Langstaff.

But Millington rejects the suggestion that Meadow Lane is one of the last places Town would want to go at the moment.

"No, not really, look at what we've done away at Solihull, look at what we've done when we've come up against Chesterfield,” he said.

"I know Oldham aren't flying in the league but I think they're a good team and when they came here I thought they threw everything into it and it was almost like an away game for us with the following they brought.

"So we showed we can turn up and perform against the big teams on the big occasions.

"It's probably less daunting at the moment than having to go and play one of the teams who are struggling at the bottom because they're the teams we seem to struggle with the most.

"There's no fear in going to Notts County. I wonder, in some cases with the players, whether some of them play with a bit less fear when there isn't any expectation on them because clearly, there's not going to be many people after Wednesday night who expect us to go and get something at Notts County.

"Not dissimilar to the Solihull game, which came straight after Ebbsfleet, so there was no expectation, we were down to the bare bones, Solihull hadn't been beaten in the calendar year at home, we'd just been beaten by Ebbsfleet and hey presto, we go and get the win.

"So I think maybe some of the lads find it easier to play in those situations than when they're expected to win."

Follow all the action from Town’s game at Notts County on Saturday with our live blog on the Courier website, where there will also be an on-the-whistle match report and post-match reaction from the Halifax boss.