KARL Robinson is hoping for a change of fortune in the transfer market after a frustrating few days as he attempts to strengthen the Oxford United squad before the window closes on Thursday.

Deficiencies in central midfield were laid bare as they were thrashed 4-0 by Barnsley in Saturday’s opening game of the Sky Bet League One season.

To make matters worse, the U’s fear key summer signing Samir Carruthers could be out for three months after limping off with a knee ligament injury at Oakwell.

Boss Robinson had been confident of securing two deals – a loan move for Ricky Holmes and a permanent transfer for another target – in time to play at the weekend.

Neither came off and the clock is now ticking down to Thursday’s 5pm deadline.

He said: “It’s a big few days now, we’ve got to get it right for Thursday.

“It’s time to get as many players in as possible to allow us to be more (competitive).

“You look at Barnsley and they were bringing Cameron McGeehan off the bench in midfield.

“These are the changes that we want to start having. That was one big area where we looked extremely weak.”

United have a target in mind to bolster the midfield and a bid has been accepted, but the contract is taking longer to agree than they hoped.

Robinson said: “We met the transfer fee, which was very substantial, on Thursday and we thought he would be in for the Barnsley game.

“That wasn’t to be the case, we still need to agree personal terms and we’re still a little away on that.”

Holmes’s move from Sheffield United looked a done deal on Thursday morning, when Blades boss Chris Wilder revealed the winger was on his way.

But getting final approval from Bramall Lane has proved the stumbling block.

On Saturday, Robinson was optimistic the move would go through.

He said: “Everything was agreed, but when you do contracts, owners have to sign things off.

“They’ve got two owners, one in Australia and one in the Middle East, so they needed two signatures, that’s what I’m led to believe.

“Even today I’ve been told it’s going to happen. We’ve got to dust ourselves off and go again. Hopefully we get the deals done on Monday.”