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Nigel Adkins says Hull City will not chase short-term fixes at inflated prices this month as he continues to wait on a first breakthrough in the January transfer window.

Ahead of tomorrow’s crucial visit of Reading to the KCOM Stadium, Adkins is hopeful of a timely recruitment boost after seeing bids tabled for two players this week.

City’s head coach refused to reveal the identity of his targets yesterday other than to admit he is pursuing a central defender and a winger ahead of the deadline in three weeks.

Plans to also sign a new striker are likely to be placed on hold as both Will Keane and Abel Hernandez near first team comebacks, but Adkins has stressed any proposed signings have to fit into a long-term strategy.

“I've made enquiries about players on loan and straight away it’s a £1m loan fee, plus this, plus this, plus this. It’s not good business,” said Adkins, whose City side find themselves outside of the relegation zone only on goal difference.

“We need to make sure we've got a plan moving forward to try and give ourselves an opportunity to get out of this position we’re in, but also as a football club moving forward. It’s not just a short-term strategy, it’s a long-term plan I want to have in place.

“We’d all love to be back in the Premier League wouldn't we? That’s not going to happen overnight, but there needs to be a structure and a plan in place and we’re striving towards that. It needs to be structured and planned.”

City have not yet been able to bolster a squad threatened by relegation to League One, but Adkins will hope to see business done in the coming days.

A new central defender to add competition to Michael Dawson, Michael Hector and Ondrej Mazuch is being lined up, while a winger to challenge Jarrod Bowen and the sidelined Kamil Grosicki is the other priority.

“There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes and we’re trying to be as active as we can,” said Adkins. “There’s still the whole of January. I’d like to do things as soon as we can, but there are bids on tables and conversations being had.

“We've mentioned that a central defender and a wide player are the couple of positions we’d like to strengthen. We've put bids in with a desire to get the deals done, so we’ll see how we progress over the course of the window.”

Adkins had previously suggested he would also target a new centre forward this month, but Keane’s return to action in the under-23s this week, scoring against both Crewe and Leeds, has given food for thought ahead of Hernandez’s anticipated comeback next month.

Speculation had linked City to Peterborough’s Jack Marriott but Adkins said: “We've looked at him, as we've looked at a lot of players, but he’s not on our list for this January window.”