Cambridge United boss Neil Harris believes signings are close ahead of Burton Albion visit and provides Jack Lankester, George Thomas and Harrison Dunk updates

Cambridge United boss Neil Harris stated he feels that the U’s are ‘really close’ to completing two signings.

United confirmed the addition of striker Lyle Taylor on a contract until the end of the season two weeks ago, and the U’s head coach believes they are not too far away from welcoming another one or two names through the door at the Abbey.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the visit of Burton Albion on Saturday (3pm), Harris said: “We feel very close with a couple. No one in the building today, will we be in the same scenario tomorrow as we were with Lyle? Hopefully. Hopefully we will have someone in before training tomorrow.

“I have not made any broken promises yet and I’m not going to start now. We feel we’re really close with two, can we get them before this weekend? It would be lovely. If not, we’d certainly like to get two if not more done before next Thursday’s deadline.

“For clarity, we’d like to sign three players between now and next Thursday. We feel a lot closer with two, we’ve made offers for two and we hope for some positive news on them and then we’ll be down to one.

“We have to be active. The guys certainly can’t work any harder behind the scenes to come up with options, make the phone calls and speak to clubs.

“All football managers are at it 24/7 because come Friday morning, that’s my group of players until the end of the season. We want to put ourselves in the best possible shape as we can.”

Ahead of the visit of the 15th-placed Brewers, Harris revealed that Jack Lankester has ‘definitely got a chance’ of returning this weekend, after he missed the weekend’s trip to Exeter with a low-grade sprained ankle, as the U’s number 10 has been back on the grass this week.

Meanwhile, George Thomas is ‘a lot closer’ to returning, but Harris admitted that he is less likely to feature this weekend than Lankester.

The U’s head coach also waxed lyrical over the 26-year-old and said: “He (Thomas) is a great lad. I like personality and character and George has got plenty of personality, hunger, drive, passion and bite about his game and his training standards.

“Having George Thomas available for every minute of every game will be vital for us moving forward.”

Harris also stated that the U’s had a behind-closed-doors friendly against Luton Town on Tuesday, which Harrison Dunk played 45 minutes in.

The 33-year-old, who is the longest-serving player at the club, last played for United on August 26 in a 2-0 defeat away to Leyton Orient.