NEWPORT County AFC manager Graham Westley is close to clinching more new signings in time for Saturday’s trip to Stevenage after admitting that the squad is “desperate” for defensive reinforcements.

Westley’s side lost 2-1 at Wycombe Wanderers on Monday afternoon – their seventh straight defeat in League Two.

The Exiles are five points from safety at the foot of the table and the boss is keen to strengthen his squad further following the arrival of strikers Aaron Williams and Jaanai Gordon on Sunday.

“It’s never as easy as you think or as fans hope to bring new lads through the door,” he said.

“I think I got something agreed this morning and I’ve got another couple of irons in the fire as sort of immediate work.

“And once we get those over the line [there’ll be more to come].

“You plan your work in the market and you talk to a lot of clubs and a lot of players and a lot of agents about a lot of people.

“If you get A then you might sign B. If you don’t get A and you get B then you might sign D and not C, if that makes sense.

“It’s very much a question of trying to get priorities over the line and then you can move on to the next most important targets.

“We’ve got work to do, there’s no question.”

Since winning 3-0 at Notts County on November 19, the Exiles have conceded 19 goals and scored six in their seven successive league defeats.

They were also knocked out of the FA Cup after a second-round replay defeat to Plymouth Argyle – making it nine games without a win in all competitions.

“I’ve said we’re in desperate need of some new defenders at the club,” said Westley.

“I’ve got Jennison [Myrie-Williams] who is not a natural left-back and Jazzi [Barnum-Bobb] who is an attacking full-back not a defensive full-back.

“And then we’ve got a pairing at centre-half [Abdoulaye Meite and Darren Jones] that isn’t an ideal pairing with the captain [Scot Bennett] being out.

“So we need defensive resources, we need defensive cover, we need a replacement in the middle of the park for [Joss] Labadie.

“He’s a great ball winner, a workhorse who puts his foot in and breaks play up, and we haven’t got that type of player in our squad. We need to look at that.

“Any fan looking at it will think we’re conceding too many goals and we need to sort the defence out.

“That’s obvious and you can bet your bottom dollar I’m working on that right now.”

He added: “People say ‘he’s gone straight into the market and bought a centre-forward’ but Rhys [Healey] is going back so I needed to do something in that area.

“And you do things as they come up, not in any particular order.”