Blades missed out on trio

Sheffield United manager Nigel Clough has revealed the club had "three significant bids" for players rejected on transfer deadline day.

The Blades boss remains keen to strengthen his squad now that the loan window has opened, but insists he will not rush into any deals. He told the club's official website: "We tried unbelievably right up until the deadline on the Monday night to do permanent transfers. We put three substantial bids in for players, but they were all rejected. "The problem we have is that we only want to bring in players who are of a better standard than what we already have, let's not forget we have already got a very good squad of players. "We want any newcomers to go straight into the starting XI; it is pointless adding to the numbers for the sake of things because we already have two or three not in the matchday 18. We are now looking at loans, with views to permanents in January." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts