COVENTRY City chairman Ray Ranson has already started the process of strengthening the club's strike force.

The club made four permanent signings in January, bringing in Richard Wood, Carl Baker, Gary Deegan and Chris Hussey, while Leon Best moved to Newcastle before his contract ran out in the summer.

Ranson said manager Chris Colman had identified several targets and that they expect to get new signings on board when the loan market re-opens next Tuesday (Feb 9).

He said: "The Leon Best situation has been well known for some time. We couldn't agree terms and have anticipated he would be moving in either January or at the end of the season.

"Up until late on Sunday night, it looked like he was going to be here until the summer but the deal with Newcastle happened very quickly and left us little time to bring in any of our targets.

"In the last few days of the transfer window, managers and chairman will always try to inflate prices and tell you that other clubs are trying to sign their players.

"Thankfully, none of our targets have been transferred, which will strengthen our negotiating position over the next few weeks.

"With the loan window re-opening next Tuesday, we are looking to bring in some new faces but deals will have to be structured differently - initially until the end of the season with a view to making them permanent in the summer.

"I don't want to start mentioning names of players because that wouldn't be right but it's not about a short-term fix, it's a long-term view to strengthen the squad of players we have here. There are still 18 games to go this season and we are not going to allow it just to peter out.

"Of course, we know we only have two recognised strikers but we were never going to panic on the last day of the transfer window with the knowledge that the loan market is open to us again next week."