Joe Dunne says he is not expecting much transfer movement at Colchester United before the window closes next week.

Dunne was active in last season’s January window, bringing in the likes of David Wright and Bradley Garmston and allowing Anthony Wordsworth and Ian Henderson to leave.

However, with Sam Walker, Alex Gilbey and Dominic Vose recently penning new deals, Dunne is happy with his current squad.

And he is not anticipating any of his players leaving this month.

However, he is still keen to sign cover for first-choice central defensive partnership Magnus Okuonghae and Tom Eastman.

Dunne said: “I’m very happy with the group at the moment.

“If anyone goes, it will probably be if someone makes a bid.

“My phone has been very quiet and generally, there’s not much history (of Colchester being active) in the January window.

“We sold Anthony (Wordsworth) last year and moved a few out.

“But we’ve got a small squad supplemented with a number of younger players.

“And we’ve still got Gavin (Massey) on his way back.

“I’d like to make one or two additions if I can but it’s proving very difficult.

“They will be for areas where I feel that we need more strength in depth.

“It’s no secret that I’d like to bring in cover for the centre-back positions and it’s an area we certainly need to strengthen.

“The hardest thing is convincing someone to come in and fight for their place and be part of the group.

“It’s going to have to wait until it’s the right one, at the right time with the right money.

“We have to be patient - it may have to go into the loan window and we could have to bide our time with that.

“I’ve got Frankie Kent and I don’t have concerns with throwing young players in.

“But centre-back is a very difficult position for a younger player and you grow into it.”

Eastman played for much of the U’s 4-2 win at Carlisle United with an injury, last weekend.

But Dunne said he should still be fit for Colchester’s next game, their home clash with Shrewsbury Town next Tuesday.

Dunne added: “Tom was probably playing about 30 per cent fit and he was struggling.

“But he wasn’t coming off and that’s what we need here, so great credit to him.

“I think that we’ve managed these weeks as a staff very well and we’ll keep the players fresh.

“We have a weekend off coming up - we’ll rest him up and he’ll be fit.”

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