KARL Robinson has opened up on some of the difficulties Oxford United face as they seek to strengthen in the January transfer window.

Robinson has pinpointed his forward line as a key area for recruitment in this month’s window and previously said that getting business done before the trip to Fleetwood Town was his ideal target.

While a striker wasn’t signed before the weekend’s clash in Lancashire, defenders Brandon Fleming and Teddy Mfuni have been recruited, as well as centre back Stephan Negru, who agreed a deal last month.

READ AGAIN: Karl Robinson quizzed on free agent strikers Macauley Bonne and Connor Wickham

Speaking prior to kick-off against Fleetwood, Robinson said United were ‘no way near’ adding further reinforcements before the weekend.

He added: “We’ve had many, many meetings and many, many discussions.

“As you well know, the transfer window is consistently moving, there’s so many unpredictable parts that we have no control of.

“All we can do is have a controlled aspect of what our plan is, and not deviate from that.

“That means we don’t make many mistakes in this window.

“Now with the ownership completely in place, there’s clarity with that – we didn’t have it in the last window.

“It’s not about one window at a time, it’s about multiple windows, so there’s an awful lot of planning and preparation going into that.”

United’s head coach said the calibre of players the club is looking to sign has had an impact on what business they have been able to do.

“We’re all under the microscope because we know what we need to bring in but you can’t get frustrated if that player’s not there,” he said.

“It’s not as if we’ve lost anybody in any particular way – they’ve chosen to play in the Premier League or they’ve gone to a big Championship team, or they’ve gone for millions of pounds to a team in our league.

“There’s not anything our football club could’ve done different.

“We’re quite clear on what the plan is and why we don’t get certain players – it’s nobody’s fault, it’s just a consequence of other teams and these players being that good that other teams want them.”

READ MORE: Karl Robinson addresses rumours linking James Henry with move away from club

Robinson also highlighted how off the pitch situations can effect recruitment.

He said: “This isn’t Championship Manager, these are people’s lives when you’re trying to sign them.

“They might have a child, they might be getting married, they might want to stay in certain areas.

“There’s so many different moving parts and so many different things going on, that you don’t have control of every single one of them.

“Our recruitment team are working so hard and I’m very proud of all the work that’s going on behind the scenes.”