Cambridge United boss Mark Bonner anticipating quiet transfer deadline at League One club

Head coach Mark Bonner is expecting a very quiet transfer deadline day at Cambridge United.

While it took a little bit longer than the last couple of summers to get his transfer business done, Bonner is pleased with the deals that have been struck after adding the likes of Saikou Janneh, Brandon Haunstrup and Fejiri Okenabirhie to his squad.

It is the same in regards to outgoings with the club having retained the likes of goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov and forward Harvey Knibbs, despite both having been linked with moves elsewhere in recent weeks.

Asked if he is expecting any business to be done before today's 11pm cut off point, Bonner said: "I'm happy with our squad. The reality of the window is that we know we're a pauper playing at the level so therefore we know the top teams get first dibs on all those players.

"It's not been a crazy window across the board. Today there might be a flurry of loans and maybe a few bids changing hands and maybe some huge bids coming in for our players before 11 o'clock tonight but we won't be welcoming them unless something ridiculous happens – I don't envisage that happening at all.

"I think we've built a good squad – we always try to do that early. This year we probably didn't do it as early as we did in previous (summers) but that is just a consequence of where we are and the fact that the very first window we had a couple of years ago was in the pandemic so it was easy to go early.

"We're pleased with what we've ended up with. We've seen through the first few weeks of the season a nice balance in the squad and some fairly good options.

"Hopefully come 11 o'clock tonight everyone knows where they are and then you get a couple of weeks down the line, everybody is 10 games in, everyone's squad is what it is until January and you can just crack on. For us that has always been the case, we're not ones for drama. That's quite good, it's calm and we don't get wrapped up in who is available today because we're happy with what we've got."

Bonner also revealed that there is nothing imminent in terms of tying any of the existing squad down to new contracts.

A number of the players have deals that are due to expire next summer, but Bonner has insisted he is more focused on getting results on the pitch ahead of Saturday's home clash against Lincoln City.

"I wouldn't have thought anything will be on the cards imminently. We're always talking and having those conversations, but the players are in a good position in that a lot of them are in the last year of their contracts and keeping them here will be really difficult because they know their earning potential elsewhere," he added.

"We'll do the best we can to try to keep them, but we're under no stress. We've got eight months left of those players, if not longer.

"The job for us is to have a good season. Keeping this squad together this season is the most important thing and then whatever happens in the future happens, but it's definitely not a concern of ours at the minute."

One player that could depart the club on loan today is young midfielder Ben Worman.