Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony says it's 99.9% certain there will be no new signings on deadline day...but he has been known to tease and confuse

Until a link with Middlesbrough winger Micah Hamilton surfaced on Sunday morning there had been more tumbleweed than transfer rumour swirling around London Road. Even Hamilton isn’t a new name for ardent Posh fans/reporters who keep an eye on these things. His name keeps coming up even though Posh have four wingers on their books already.

It was much more fun when Barry Fry wasn’t gagged by his chairman. Even Darragh MacAnthony hasn’t blabbed much even though he must be close to having his own dressing room at the Sky Sports studios so frequent have his appearances been, while also hosting an award-winning podcast ‘The Hard Truth’, a name which, ro be fair, suggests facts rather than rumours are delivered.

MacAnthony will always have interaction with fans at this time of year. A couple of days ago on X he declared ‘99.9% there will be no new signings in January’, but then he said similar last summer after getting angered by reports that Harry Leonard was set to move to London Road. Of course Leonard did eventually sign.

The chairman likes to tease and confuse so until the 7pm deadline tomorrow has passed it’s best to keep an open mind.

It would be a disappointment if Posh don’t sign anyone, but mainly because I enjoy the excited reaction of fans to the arrival of players they’ve never seen in action and who they’d probably never heard of until the club announcement.

Ideally, if money was no objection and promotion was deemed more important than the blocking of a first-team pathway, Posh would sign a back-up goalkeeper, a left-back, a centre-back, a central midfielder and a striker, and maybe that fifth winger as Abraham Odoh is now viewed as surplus to requirements unless there is a sickness crisis.

But, sensibly, none of the above is likely happen which is fine as long as Archie Collins is still at the club come Tuesday morning. Promotion, bridging a 10-point gap and then winning the play-offs, is too much of a longshot to gamble on and if the current squad get dragged back into a relegation scrap it would be more surprising than hearing Luke Williams slag off a referee.

And it’s difficult to see clubs wanting to fork out the sizeable fee Posh would demand for a defensive midfielder like Collins when his contract has just six months to run.

January is a notoriously difficult time to do business. Is it really worth messing with the strong team spirit and togetherness Posh apparently have by bringing in a newcomer or two? I’d rather see more of Lucca Mendonca and Patryck Sykut, and a bit of Bolu Shofowoke, rather than a temporary signing, before the season is done.

Last January a Posh team far more likely to be relegated signed four players in January and three of them – Tayo Edun, Sam Hughes and Carl Johnston – turned out pretty well and I’m not among those who believe Gustav Lindgren was a complete disaster either. Those defenders were desperately needed, but Posh will be pretty well stocked all over the pitch once everyone returns to fitness.

Fry will doubtless be hitting the phones tomorrow, but only to try and flog, or more likely give away, a pair of goalkeepers and Odoh. If the director of football gets money for any of them he will deserve a medal.

TRANSFER DEADLINE RULES

EFL clubs have until 7pm on Monday to complete any last-minute business, although that deadline can be extended by two hours if the necessary paperwork is submitted on time.

The EFL have introduced ‘deal sheets’ to help get last-minute moves over the line for the first time. The system is already used with transfers in the Premier League to give clubs extra time to finalise deals.

Clubs are allowed a maximum of five loanees in their matchday squads. Posh currently have three in Peter Kioso, Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Jacob Mendy, although the latter has disappeared from view.