Shrewsbury boss Graham Turner has hinted he could look to the loan market for reinforcements.
The Shrews are still chasing a central defender but were unable to bring one in before the transfer window closed on January 31.
Turner insists that was not through a lack of trying, and he told Shrewsbury's official website: "We made a number of phone calls about players which produced negative results.
"The answer from several bigger clubs was they couldn't let players out yet but give it the week in February when you can't sign anybody and they will reassess it, revisit it.
"There's one or two options if we want to take somebody once the emergency window opens again.
"It's just that you can't sign anybody permanently or on a long-term loan. What you can do after February 7 is sign people on emergency loans for a maximum of 93 days."
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