JIM Magilton is still hopeful of doing another piece of transfer business before the window slams shut on Thursday night.He has a second bid in for Gareth McAuley which last night was still in the air with the centre half playing for Leicester City against Crystal Palace.

Derek Davis

JIM Magilton is still hopeful of doing another piece of transfer business before the window slams shut on Thursday night.

He has a second bid in for Gareth McAuley which last night was still in the air with the centre half playing for Leicester City against Crystal Palace.

Magilton said: “We've made a second bid for McAuley and I can see that going right to the wire as well depending on whether they want to keep him or not.”

If that draws a blank once more then Magilton still has other targets.

He said: “We've got a lot of irons in the fire and I reckon it will go right to the wire.

“I have tried to be consistent in bring the right people in. We are going to build something here so we want to foundations to be solid and bring in the right people.

“We are happy with the squad we have. We just want to add one or two of the right people in. I will be looking on loan as well.

“There have been very few players wanting to drop out of the Premier League and come and play in the Championship this year.

“It's only younger players really becoming available as a lot of senior players are staying in the Premier League.

“But it can make it easier when these teams get knocked out of cup competitions.”

Magilton is hoping a couple more players will be going out with Sammy Moore going on a free transfer to Stevenage.

Alan Lee is the only other possible departure, but Burnley have not yet followed up their interest.

Magilton said: “There was an enquiry from Burnley, but there has been no bid. We don't want to lose Alan, but if a club is pursuing him then they are showing their intentions.

“We are very happy with the squad that we have and we just need to add to the squad that we have. But it will come down to every player having their price - there isn't a single player who doesn't have a price.”

Lee has done well against Plymouth in the past, he scored there at the beginning of the second and against time last March in Town's 3-0 home win, but has netted just once in his last nine games. That came from the penalty spot in the 3-1 win against Leicester back in November.

Magilton said: “Having clubs chasing you can boost the confidence. He is a valuable asset to our squad but like all strikers he thrives on goals and maybe he is just feeling a little bit low in confidence.

“He played an awful lot of games last year not fully fit and we have pushed him. Now we have a little bit more competition up there where we don't have to push him to the limit.

“He needed a rest and he has that now but an experienced player like that just needs a goal and he will be riding the crest of a wave again.

“He has struggled a bit with his achilles and that coupled with not scoring goals has maybe hit his confidence a bit.”

derek.davis@archant.co.uk