OXFORD United’s winless start to their Sky Bet League One campaign has not changed head coach Michael Appleton’s view on what they need to do in the transfer market.

Clubs have until August 31 to finalise their squads, after which no further additions will be permitted until January.

The U’s have made a slow start to life in the third tier, losing at Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers in the last week after opening with a point at home to Chesterfield.

Appleton has cautioned against making any knee-jerk decisions and believes nothing he has seen from the U’s so far has changed his mind over what is required.

He said: “In terms of the balance of the squad we knew the type of players we wanted by August 31, whether that was on deadline day or before that.

“Time will tell on that, but it hasn’t changed in terms of knowing what we need.

“We know the players we want.

“In an ideal world we will have three other players in by August 31, but the reality is we’ll only have two because you never tend to get exactly what you want.

“Let’s see what develops over the next few days.”

He added: “We will be patient, regardless of what happens over the next two or three games, because we believe from a long-term point of view we have the right players in the building going into January. That’s what we’ll do.”

One of United’s main issues so far has been a lack of pace, especially in wide areas.

They were unable to prise Marvin Johnson away from Scottish Premiership side Motherwell earlier this month, but a similar player remains the priority for Appleton.

“Absolutely,” he said.

“We’re still pursuing that (type) and are reasonably confident we’ll get the one we want, but we have B, C and D just in case.”

While the hard work goes on behind the scenes, new faces may not arrive before tomorrow’s home game against Peterborough United.

Despite the twin setbacks in the last few days, wholesale changes are unlikely at this stage, with Appleton intending to give established players a chance to rediscover their form.

He said: “Regardless of anything there were still five or six players in that line-up at Fleetwood who played a massive part in the success we had last year.

“You have to give those type of players the opportunity to try and put it right.”