NEWPORT County boss Terry Butcher expects to announce several new signings in the coming days and weeks, irrespective of whether the Exiles scoop the Sky Bet jackpot.

Butcher had been hopeful of announcing a new striker, but has seen the move held up in recent days.

“We are very close to bringing in another striker, the deal is done from our end, up there is still some work to be done to get it sorted, some talking to be done at the other end,” he told Argus Sport.

“But that is hopefully close to completion and we are still in the market and talking with and about some other players. We still have a few pennies left.”

Butcher’s budget has been slashed in comparison to last season, County’s annual wage bill reduced significantly, from around £1.4 million to closer to £900,000.

However, it would be supplemented significantly in County scoop the jackpot from the Sky Bet Transfer Fund competition.

County found out around midday tomorrow (Friday) whether they have claimed a cool £250,000 to spend in the transfer market, with a 10/1 chance after supporter Dan Ward was selected at random from over 100,000 entries.

“If we win that I will be unavailable all day because I will be on the phone to agents,” Butcher joked.

“We are obviously not counting on that money, but it would be lovely to win.”

The Exiles are still looking to add to their squad and Butcher admits all three trialists at the club will be given a further chance to impress.

He plans on playing the majority of his starting XI for 75 minutes at Port Talbot tomorrow Saturday before doing the same thing with rotated players against Bath City on Tuesday night.

That means defender Dave Vincent and attacking options Elliott Scotcher and Branimir Kostadinov will be given more time to further press their cases to be signed up.

“All three trialists have done really well, we like them a lot,” Butcher said.

“Kostadinov was in Scotland at Hearts and an awful lot of people were looking at him then.

“It hasn’t worked out for him there, but he could be a good option for us. He can shoot, cross, beat a man, he’s an exciting player.”

Butcher expects to add another friendly to County’s pre-season programme for next weekend. “We’ll hopefully announce that on Friday or Saturday,” he confirmed.

County will be missing five players through injury for their solitary clash this summer against a Welsh Premier League outfit at Victoria Road.

Defenders Regan Poole, Kevin Feely, Nathan Ralph and Andrew Hughes all miss out, as does Alex Rodman who has a twisted ankle.

Butcher reported that Ralph and Feely should both resume training next week while Poole’s return to fitness is also close.

And Butcher reiterated his belief that Poole, entering the second-year of his scholar contract, will remain at Rodney Parade, having been offered, but not signed, a new deal.

“There hasn’t been any new interest in Regan, he’s our player and we are preparing him for the new season in our first team,” he said.