Shaymen close to adding a defender and a forward to their squad, says Millington

Midfielder Louis White became The Shaymen's first signing of the year this week when he joined from Glossop.

And Millington is confident two more players will follow White to The Shay over the coming days.

"We're close on one and the second one, which for me is probably the more crucial signing, might just take a few days to get over the line," said the Town boss.

"But we're working exceptionally hard to try and attract a player whose got interest from clubs higher than ourselves, so we've got to continue to work very hard to make sure we get the right people in.

"The second of those two signings is one we'd be very, very keen to get in the building."

Millington added: "One of them is a defender and one is a forward.

"We weren't looking to bring two defenders in, we were looking for one of the two we were after.

"One of them we're hoping would be a loan with a view to having the option to make it permanent if they do well, and the other would certainly be a loan initially."

On 22-year-old White, who came through the youth ranks at Rochdale and has since played in non-league, Millington said: "He's a player who's been on the radar of a number of clubs, he'd been invited in to a couple of League Two clubs to trial.

"But because of a relationship Paul Oakes (goalkeeping coach) has with some of the staff at Glossop, they steered him in our direction and we were lucky to get eyes on him first.

"He's been with us a couple of weeks and has done exceptionally well, and earned himself the right to get a contract and hopefully help us move in the right direction in the league.

"He's a ball-playing midfielder.

"At the moment, certainly with Luke Summerfield missing, we're going to need a bit more in terms of ball players in the middle of the park.

"So it's the ideal time for him to come in and try to stake a claim for one of those positions."

White won't be available for Town's FA Trophy game at Harrow Borough on Tuesday night as he is cup-tied.

"He's going to take time to bed in, which I say reservedly because he's looked like one of the best players in training on a number of occasions, so he's not a million miles off the level," Millington said.

"But clearly, when he goes into games it's going to take him a bit of time to get used to the pace and the physicality.

"But once he gets used to those two things he's definitely got the ability to play at this level, so we're happy to get him in the building.

"He started to show what he could do at Glossop and we believe this is the next step for him to be able to move forward."

Some Town fans have expressed their frustration over the lack of a bigger name signing.

"I remember the fanfare with which the signings of Tom Clarke, Jordan Keane, Sam Minihan and Mani Dierseruvwe were welcomed - they were over the moon with big names in the summer," Millington told the Courier.

"They've got to remember we've still got those big names in the building and what we need to do is find players who can support that and help us move forward.

"We can't just keep going for the next big name and the next big name, we've got plenty of big names in.

"Listen, we wouldn't rule out bringing more big names in for sure and we're looking for those players who can come and contribute.

"But I remember the fanfare with which some of the signings over the summer were received, so they've got to be mindful of that, we've still got those lads in the squad."

Goalkeeper Tom Scott joined Nantwich Town on loan for a month earlier this week, while winger Sam Smart headed out on loan to Brackley Town for the rest of the season.

"It's perfect timing for Sam, he needs to be getting games," said Millington.

"He's a good lad, a good footballer, but he's not quite got the game-time he would have hoped for and certainly we expected to be able to give him more game-time,

"But with the emergence of Jamie Cooke, Angelo Capello, with the way some of the other wide players are starting to come in like Milli Alli and Yamen Osawe, we just felt he was a bit too far down the pecking order to really threaten those positions.

"So it was the sensible thing all round for him to go out and get football elsewhere."

Someone else who could also be heading out of the club is defender Sam Minihan.

"We've circulated Sam Minihan, so a similar situation really," Millington said.

"Probably just a little bit down the pecking order in terms of team selection.

"If he's going to get the minutes he needs to keep progressing and earn himself a deal for next year, we've agreed it's probably sensible for him to take an opportunity to get minutes elsewhere this season.

"So we'll see what interest comes in for Sam, but as yet there's no real solid interest that he believes is right."

Millington went to watch Oldham v Gateshead on Saturday following the postponement of the FA Trophy game at Harrow, while assistant manager Andy Cooper was at Scunthorpe against Woking.

When asked if the fact the game is now being played on Tuesday makes any difference to his approach to the game or the team he will pick, Millington said: "No it doesn't.

"It gives us a shorter run-in to the league fixture and a busy period of games, but other than that we're ready and prepared.

"The nature of the Christmas period this year and it not quite being as intense as recent seasons probably means the players who are fit and well are well rested and ready to go."

Neither Matty Warburton or Kian Spence are expected to be involved on Tuesday night.

"It'll more than likely be the same squad we were looking at for Saturday, but hopefully we'll maybe get one of those two back for the weekend," Millington said.

"We're certainly hopeful, but at the moment it's unclear to the timescales, but there doesn't look to be anything particularly serious in terms of their injuries so fingers crossed we can work towards getting at least one of them back available."

Midfielder Luke Summerfield remains very ill so will be out of action "for a while", said Millington, while defender Jamie Stott is expected to start full contact training at the end of the month.

You can follow all the action from Harrow Borough v FC Halifax Town on Tuesday night on our live blog on the Courier website, where there will also be an on-the-whistle match report and post-match reaction from the Town boss.