MICHAEL Appleton believes Oxford United will need to carry a larger squad from next season to cope with the upcoming changes to the loan system.

The 2015-16 campaign was the last time clubs in the Football League could make emergency loan signings outside the transfer window.

Fifa allowed a 12-month reprieve, which has now expired, so the system where players could join on deals between 28 and 93 days has now ended.

The only arrangements are set to be on either a half-season or full season basis, meaning once the transfer window closes in August there will be no movement of players until January 1.

It leaves a lot of work to do for United, who are yet to sign anyone this summer, while there is still no news from the club on whether Chris Maguire intends to sign the contract offered to him last month.

But the new arrangement means Appleton, who brought in six players on emergency loans last season, is planning to deploy a larger squad in Sky Bet League One.

“I think we’re going to need two or three players more than we had this year, I think everyone has realised that,” the U’s boss said.

“That’ll have to be the case next year with there being no emergency loan window.

“We are going to have to make sure we have a squad that can cope with the situations we’ve had over the international period at Easter and deal with the injuries we had over the last few games of the season.”

Appleton prioritised quality over quantity when building his squad 12 months ago.

It was done in the knowledge gaps in the side created by injuries could be plugged by short-term deals – such as George Waring joining in February to cover the loss of Ryan Taylor.

Having a smaller squad also made it easier to create a tight-knit group, because few players missed out on being included in the 18-man squads on a matchday.

But Appleton, who believes the new system will lead to more players from top clubs becoming available for longer-term loans, is confident an expanded squad will not cause problems.

He said: “Whether we have two or three extra players or not I don’t think that will make a massive difference.”

He added: “We are aware there will be some fantastic players available from some of the bigger clubs who will know they’re not going to get some game time.”