Window of opportunity

With the transfer window about to creak open for another month of rumours, half-truths, lies and Sky Sports frantically trying to hype up fleeting glimpses of limos in car parks, what should Chris Hughton be doing to strengthen our squad over the next month?

With the first team going well, the clear concern with our squad remains its lack of depth - with Danny Simpson still on loan, we lack cover in both full back positions, and some more bodies in this regard would be gratefully received.

Strong rumours have linked us to Matthew Kilgallon of Sheffield United, who would add to our backline options, and would be another welcome body in the squad with half an eye on what is hopefully a Premier League return next season.

Further forward, I've yet to be convinced that Homer should be encouraged to start house-hunting just yet, so a further striker, ideally with some pace, might be a good acquisition - as Hughton has himself acknowledged.

In the midfield, whilst Smith and Nolan have done well, a creative midfielder wouldn't go amiss.

However, what Chris Hughton absolutely must do is keep hold of all of his current first team regulars. If he can stop any struggling Premier League teams from picking up the likes of Nolan and Bigger Lad then we should be able to keep our run going. However, if the vultures start picking off our remaining talent, the wheels could still fall off our promotion challenge.

With Jabba still holding the purse strings, we can only hope that even he isn't stupid enough to sell off our remaining assets.