Nottingham Forest left it late, but added four fresh faces to their ranks in the final week of the transfer window.
Adama Diakhaby joined on loan from Huddersfield Town before Gaetan Bong, Nuno da Costa and youngster Julian Larsson arrived on permanent deals as Sabri Lamouchi looked to strengthen his side ahead of late push toward promotion to the Premier League.
Meanwhile, fellow Championship high-flyers Leeds United, Fulham, Brentford and Bristol City all strengthened with high profile signings of their own.
But Lamouchi is happy with how Forest have done business compared to their closest rivals and is confident that the four players will all play their own important part in the final half of the season, he told the Athletic.
And with striker Lewis Grabban currently under fire from Forest supporters following his costly Birmingham City penalty miss, Da Costa, Diakhaby and the returning Tyler Walker could all move in to carry their share of the pressure.
“We have moved [to make additions] but not too much,” said Lamouchi.
"This was really important. We wanted to keep the same mentality in the dressing room.
“For the last sprint, we need fresh players.
He added: "The new players have not played too much this season but they have the quality to help us and I am sure they will help us a lot."
During January, Forest closed the gap between themselves at the automatic promotion top two - Lamouchi's first taste of just how unpredictable Championship football can be.
He continued: “We are in the right place, but that can be so fragile. One month ago, before Christmas, the situation was totally different to now.
“The change has been unbelievable. But I have one question for you: Is it a surprise that we collected 17 points from a possible 21, or is it a surprise that West Brom collected only four points from the same number of fixtures?
“The biggest surprise is West Brom, because they had lost only a few games prior to this recent run. You could not imagine this but it is what happened now.”
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