TONY Mowbray is looking to add permanent signings to his Rovers squad this month but admits the loan market could be an option should that prove difficult.

Mowbray wants competition at left-back and is in negotiations with Fleetwood over a possible deal for Amari’i Bell.

A replacement for on-loan Middlesbrough winger Harry Chapman is also a priority while Newcastle striker Adam Armstrong, a player Mowbray worked with during his time at Coventry, remains on the club’s radar after a failed pursuit of the 20-year-old in the summer.

Armstrong was recalled from a loan spell at Championship club Bolton by the Magpies yesterday, but there would need to be a compromise over his wages should Rovers firm-up their interest.

Mowbray doesn’t expect any new faces ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup tie with Hull and said of his transfer dealings: “Two or three conversations are ongoing with clubs and I do think that unless you can hit some unrealistic numbers sometimes it is very difficult to just go and get a deal done.

“Every deal is ‘club A wants this much, club B offers this much, club A move a little bit this way and then club B adjust their price’ so it’s conversations, talking, emails, discussions, but I’m pretty sure we will improve the squad over the course of this month and add some players to it.”

Rekeem Harper’s return to parent club West Bromwich Albion this week means Rovers have just three loan players on their books, including long-term absentee Chapman who isn’t expected to be fit until the spring.

Mowbray isn’t keen to increase that number too much but admits a failure to secure his top targets on permanent deals could see him dip back into the loan market.

He added: “First and foremost we’re trying to build our own squad and yet if the right loan player comes along you can’t turn it down, particularly if it’s an area of the pitch in which you are struggling to find the right one for the right price.

“I’m just wary of having five, six, seven loan players in the building because they all go at the end of the season and you’re left with the bare bones of a squad.

“Loans are sometimes more difficult week-to-week so ideally we try and sign our own players but if we can’t find the right ones then we will have to fill with hopefully high quality players from the Premier League or Championship.”

Left back is a position Mowbray is targeting with Bell one of the players Rovers have made a move for.

He has played in every league game for Fleetwood so far this season and was a mainstay in the Cod Army side which reached the play-offs last season.

The 23-year-old is out of contract in the summer and Mowbray is keen to add competition to Rovers ever-present Derrick Williams despite the permanent arrival of Sam Hart from Liverpool in the summer.

Of adding competition at left back, Mowbray said: “We’ve been trying to do that for a while.

“We brought young Sam Hart in from Liverpool and I think he is still a very young boy, he has wonderful attributes but we have to wait for him to mature.

“There’s a few positions, we’re missing and I’ve talked about it before, the Harry Chapman type of X Factor that he brought to our football team.

“On tight games, someone who we can give the ball to, keep good shape behind the ball and let him do what he does and see if he can open up and finish a game off and create a second or third goal without losing your shape or organisation behind the ball.

“We’re looking for that type of footballer as well because Harry might get the last five, 10 games of the season if we’re lucky. But in between that we need to make sure we can finish teams off like Harry helped us to do in that part of the season when he was on top form.”