Paul Cook is hopeful of adding up to three new players to his Ipswich Town squad by Monday.

Cook has already made 10 signings this summer as he rebuilds the Ipswich Town squad, but the Town boss has previously said he would like to add up to six more as he bids to have senior cover throughout his group.

Two of those signings are likely to be Aston Villa youngster Louie Barry and Michael Jacobs of Portsmouth, with deals agreed for both players. Barry’s move could be completed today, while there is still work to do to finalise the move for Jacobs.

Asked how close the club are to making a new signing, Cook replied: “Minutes.

“It’s going to be a busy couple of days for us as a club and I think there will be more signings over the weekend for sure.

“We are short in numbers and, contrary to what some others have said, we’re not a big-spending club who are just throwing money around at everything. We’re probably one of the only clubs over the off-season who have sold players and we’re reinvesting that into the team.

“We’ve had a turnaround of 20-odd players leaving and we’ve been doing our business as well as we can. What everyone says is really irrelevant and we’ll just keep going about our business.

“But the time Monday comes we’ll hopefully have one, two or possibly three new players in the morning.”

When asked if he still feels his squad is light in a few areas, Cook said: “100%.

“You’ll see it from the team selection tomorrow and the subs. To get through a league campaign you have to have depth in your squad. If you’re a big club and a big player gets injured, you have to be able to put another big player on the pitch. That’s what big clubs do.

“That’s why big clubs are big clubs because they can go into the market to spend the money and have crowds of more than 20,000. Because they have big players signed. That’s what big clubs do. They act.

“It doesn’t guarantee you any success but you have to work extremely hard, be professional and respect your opposition. No more so that tomorrow, where Morecambe are going to be so dangerous in terms of opposition.

“If all those factors go well then the reality is you might win some games.”

Cook was asked about potential exits, with Flynn Downes, Kayden Jackson and Myles Kenlock still spending time with the club’s Under 23s.

“There’s absolutely no conversation like that, none. If we’re going to speak about players every single day there’s no point.

“In my world we’re in a very, very professional football club and we won’t be involved in debates and hearsay.”

Town continue to retain an interest in Middlesbrough’s Hayden Coulson, though manager Neil Warnock has insisted he is not in a position to allow the left-back to depart due to injuries within his own squad.