COLCHESTER United boss Tony Humes plans to raid the transfer market – and has admitted his squad is “a couple of players short”.

The U’s have enjoyed a promising pre-season, winning four games out of four and pipping a young West Ham side 1-0 at the Weston Homes Community Stadium on Tuesday night.

Humes has been heartened by many aspects of his side’s performances.

But he still plans to top up his squad – with either permanent or loan signings – before the start of the new League One season, on August 8.

“We need another couple of players and are a couple short,” said Humes. “We need more forward players.

“We created a few chances against West Ham but didn’t take them.

“At times, we didn’t penetrate as much as we possibly could have done.

“I still think we need to add to the squad, to give us a bit more strength and balance.”

Humes admits patience will be key in his quest to bring new players to the club.

“We’re not that close at the moment,” he said.

“A couple of players we’ve been chasing have done well at their respective clubs so they’re hanging on to them a bit longer.

“We’re looking at loans but there’s also the option of permanent signings, so we’ll just have to gauge it as we go along.”