Paul Simpson says he will only do any further transfer deals at Carlisle United if someone comes along with the 'wow' factor.

The Blues boss says his January spending has come in under budget, and has not ruled out adding to this month’s four signings before next Tuesday’s deadline.

But he stressed he will only move if a player becomes available who proves irresistible.

“I’m really happy with the numbers I’ve got. When I look around at what’s available, is there anything better than what we’ve got?” Simpson said.

“I don’t want to just collect players, because I’ve got three who would be disappointed they weren’t in the squad against Hartlepool [Ben Barclay, Jayden Harris and Tobi Sho-Silva], that’s with three more to come into it [in Jack Ellis, Taylor Charters and Ryan Edmondson], Fin Back when he comes into it too.

“As much as I want a group together, I don’t want too many disappointed players who are not involved.

“At this moment in time I don’t see the need to do anything more. If somebody calls me and says, ‘This player’s available’ and I go ‘Wow, that’s better, we can afford that’, I know for a fact the directors are saying to me, ‘Come and give us a problem, if you want it’.

“They’ve been brilliant to me so far. Hopefully I don’t have to do that.”

United’s dealings this month have seen Simpson and recruitment chief Greg Abbott balance the books, according to the manager.

They have brought in loanees Jack Robinson, Alfie McCalmont and John-Kymani Gordon as well as the permanent addition of Joe Garner.

Departing the promotion-chasing squad have been loan players Duncan Idehen and Sonny Hilton – while Nottingham Forest have waived United’s wages contribution for Fin Back whilst the loan wing-back recovers from injury.

READ MORE: Listen to our interview with Simmo after the Hartlepool win

Simpson added: “I’m going to give myself credit and also Greg – we’re still within our budget. We’re not selling the kitchen sink or anything like that.

“I had an idea, I was aware of [how close we were to the budget], I thought maybe we were slightly over but I thought we were very close.

“We’ve had to do some wheeling and dealing, and we’ve had to get some brilliant help from other clubs, the likes of Leeds [with McCalmont] and Middlesbrough [with Robinson], and Crystal Palace [with Gordon], even Stockport [with Ben Barclay], as much as they’re probably disappointed that we’re up there.

“Without other clubs helping us we probably couldn’t do it.

“With the younger players, we’re hopefully helping develop them for their clubs – hopefully JK will go back a better player, Alfie will go back a better player, Jack Robinson will go back better for the experience.”

Simpson maintained United have not received any approaches for any of their stars.

He hoped that would remain the case beyond the January 31 deadline, but accepted the financial reality of the Blues’ level should any bids come in.

“There’s two sides to it – yes I want to keep this group together because they’ve done really well, but on the other side of it, we haven’t got multi-millionaires running our club, and everybody has a price, especially at League Two.

“We don’t want [players] to go, we want to keep them all here, and we’re just going to have to wait and see.

“I can’t wait for this window to close and stop having to have these questions, I’m being asked, ‘Is he going to this club, is he going elsewhere..?’

“It’s not that I’m telling lies – nobody has called about our players, nobody has come to me, to the best of my knowledge nobody has come to me, to Nigel [Clibbens, chief executive], to Greg, to the chairman [Andrew Jenkins], or Sarah [McKnight, secretary], whoever enquiries would come in for, and I want to keep it that way.”

Simpson, though, added: “It’s not my football club. If it was, I could say, ‘No, it’s not happening’, but I understand the realities of Carlisle United in League Two.

“I will give the football side of it but thankfully I don’t have to put the money in to support Carlisle United.

“We have to keep building this club to make it better. For me, the best way to build this club is keep the team out on the pitch that’s winning games of football – that keeps encouraging fans to come in, that will help us to develop and I hope that’s the case for the rest of the season.”