KARL Robinson wants to secure two of his January transfer targets early – but it would mean removing a player from his squad first.

The Oxford United boss takes his side to Plymouth Argyle tonight, in their final game before the window opens on Saturday.

Robinson will have one space in his squad once Joel Cooper’s loan move to Linfield goes through, but EFL rules state he cannot exceed the maximum of 22 players aged over 21.

Reports in Scotland have linked United with former right back Chris Cadden, who spent the first half of last season at the Kassam Stadium.

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Robinson has not confirmed an interest in the 24-year-old, but the U’s head coach is keen to hit the ground running.

He said: “I’m sure people will get excited about things that have been leaked.

“We’ve just got to wait and see what materialises.

“We want to get things done sooner rather than later with two of the players that we’re really serious on.

“That would be our objective, but I can’t give you a 100 per cent answer.

“It’ll give people a little bit of a kick up the bum over these next few games, if they understand there are players raring to go.”

Robinson revealed last week he wanted four signings – two wingers, a centre back and another in an unconfirmed position.

Read also: Oxford United boss wants four signings in January transfer window

But that would mean freeing up three spaces in his squad for the second half of 2020/21, either through players being de-registered or leaving the club.

The new regulations came in this season, alongside the salary cap that limits Sky Bet League One clubs’ spending to £2.5million each campaign.

United began planning for this window several months ago and Robinson will continue to work during the nearly 200-mile journey down to Plymouth.

The U’s trained yesterday before travelling down in the evening, but staff and players will be in separate cars to conform to Covid protocols.

That does not bother Robinson, who is hoping to have plenty of interesting conversations on the way.

“It’ll be a journey that goes very quickly, because there’s a lot of phone calls to be made,” he said.

“We try to keep as many people off the coach as possible unless it’s a necessity.

“The EFL are more comfortable with only 18 players on a 40-seater coach.

“We don’t want to create a problem for the Burton game.”