EASTLEIGH boss Ben Strevens has received only one enquiry for a player this month – and Chris Zebroski has turned down the possible loan move.

Rumour has been rife around the Silverlake that former Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry defensive titan Reda Johnson could be moving back to the Football League during the January transfer window.

But Strevens, whose team host former Silverlake boss Paul Doswell’s Sutton United on Saturday (3pm), says the only concrete enquiry received is “a side in our league” wanting to loan frontman Zebroski whose season has been overshadowed by personal issues.

Responding to the transfer speculation, Strevens said: “Reda’s a quality defender and Macca (Paul McCallum) has scored 15 goals, so there is going to be speculation, but no one’s phoned me or spoken to me about them.

“I don’t want to lose either of them, but I’m also aware that if a Football League club came calling and the offer was right it’s something we’d discuss.

“We had an enquiry about taking Zeb on loan for the rest of the season, but Zeb didn’t want to do it. He wants to stay and fight for his place and, as manager, I’m happy to hear that.

“I’m not actively trying to move any players out. When we put this group together, we wanted them to stick together.”

If anything, there is a greater likelihood of a player coming in on a loan deal rather than anyone leaving.

But, while Strevens is acutely aware that lessons have to be learned from the 4-1 defeat at Solihull Moors last time out, he won’t be panicked into changes.

“The answer to a result like that isn’t to say we’re going to get another player in, we’ve got to work with the boys and trust them to put things right,” he said.

“We’ve had a couple of bad results at Ebbsfleet (3-0) and Solihull, but we’ve beaten Harrogate and Havant at home and it was nice to see the players being cheered off the pitch and appreciated by the fans.

“The possibility’s there to get a player in on loan if we choose to but, unless something pops up in the next couple of weeks, there won’t be too much activity.”

More than a decade has flown by since Doswell left Eastleigh for Sutton and, although he and assistant Ian Baird (another ex-Spitfires manager), will always hold a special place in club history, Saturday is just another game as far as Strevens is concerned.

“Obviously there’s a level of respect for the job Dos and Bairdy have done but, being honest, myself and the current squad of players – apart from Greener (Michael Green) – didn’t follow on from them, so for 95 per cent of us, it’s just another manager coming to the Silverlake,” he said.

“It’s another good test for us, though, against a team above us and we’ll see how we respond to the disappointment at Solihull.”

With everyone fit and Green returning from a three-match suspension, Strevens will have some difficult decisions to make.

“It’s not nice having to leave players out, but it’s part and parcel of being a manager,” he said.

“Against Harrogate I left Cav (Miley) and Oscar (Gobern) out and Cav’s come on and scored the winner.

“We’re a tight-knit group and the boys left out have been respectful of the decision, got behind the other players and responded in a positive way.”

Four wins from their last five league games have lifted Sutton to sixth, six points above tenth-placed Eastleigh.

The Us’ newest recruit is winger James Dobson, signed from Slough Town.