JOE Dunne has admitted there is unlikely to be any major transfer activity at Colchester United when the window reopens next month.

And the U’s boss has put talk of making any new signings on the backburner until their crucial run of December fixtures is over.

Dunne has conceded that he would like to improve his squad in the forthcoming window, should the right opportunities arise.

He has spoken to chairman Robbie Cowling about the prospect of adding to his squad.

But with the U’s next four games against teams in and around them in League One, Dunne is wary of having any distractions in the coming weeks.

Dunne said: “We’ll worry about January when we get there, because I think December is a massive month for us.

“It can really set our stool out for the new year.

“I’ve been speaking to the chairman quite regularly about one or two things, as we did this time last year.

“We knew then that we needed to shake things up a bit, based on what we did in the league.

“I don’t think it’s as bad as that this time because that needed an overhaul and I needed players to go out and players to come in.

“We have a list of players that we can possibly bring in but I have to be honest, there won’t be major ins and outs.

“I’m quite happy generally with the group but obviously we need to add improvements.”

Colchester still have a number of players on the sidelines at present, as they head into 2014.

The likes of Freddie Sears, Sanchez Watt and Gavin Massey are all out injured but Dunne is hoping to have them back early next year.

He added: “I’m hoping that I actually get players back, rather than having to bring players in.

“The squad isn’t big going into the Christmas period so what we have to do is make sure we keep who we have got fit.

“If we’re doing anything major, I would like to think that it’s only for cover and we’d like to improve the squad.

“Some of the players we spoke about in our meetings last time we couldn’t get, because they went into the Championship or the top-six in League One.

“I think that’s where the difficulty is going to be.”