KEITH Millen has told Bristol City fans not to expect any more new signings before the transfer window closes next week.

Although clubs have another eight days in which to do business and City's manager has made no secret of his desire to bring in a left-sided player, he insists his transfer business is almost certainly complete for the time being.

Millen's attacking options have been greatly improved by the arrival yesterday of strikers Brett Pitman and Jon Stead, signed from Bournemouth and Ipswich Town respectively. And he seems content to focus on those players already at the club and draw a line under what has been a tumultuous few weeks for the Championship club following the shock departure of former manager Steve Coppell.

"I will be surprised now if any other players come in," said Millen. "I'm very conscious of the need to settle things down after what has been a mad two months.

"Ever since we returned on July 1, it's been a really difficult period for the club, both behind the scenes and in the transfer market.

"We now need to settle everything down. This is a new group of players and, although it make a little bit of time, they need to gel quickly.

"They need a stable environment in which to do that and, while I'm always looking to improve the squad, I think the time has come to work with the ones who are here and concentrate all our efforts on helping them do the best they can."

Millen is also ruling out the possibility of any players leaving the club in the immediate future.

He said: "We thought we had too many players when we reported back for pre-season training and the lads who stayed fit ended up having to play every game.

"When we have everyone fit, we will have a very big squad and that is something we will look at. But up until now, that has not been the case and those players who are normally on the fringe have all been playing.

"We've had a disastrous run of injuries and we are still some way from having them all fit."

The arrival of Stead and Pitman, both of whom signed three-year contracts yesterday, gives Millen alternative attacking options, and both will be included in the squad for Saturday's Championship clash with Ipswich at Portman Road.

Millen revived the deal for Stead following Steve Coppell's resignation as manager and expressed relief when the transfer finally went through.

He said: "The deal for Jon has been going on for a long time now and I'm delighted to finally get it done. It would have been nice to have had him here a bit sooner, but there were issues and Ipswich wanted to keep him involved in their first team.

"Jon is still only 27, but is already very experienced in the Championship and Premier League and has been successful at this level.

"He leads the line well, works hard, has a good personality and is a good lad to have around the place." In Pitman, City's have acquired a player with outstanding potential, a fact acknowledged by Millen.

He said: "Brett was another one we had been looking at for some time and there were other clubs looking at him. But I spoke to him over the weekend and we tied up the deal there and then.

"He is a 22-year-old with a great scoring record and it's time now for him to step up into the Championship. Sometimes, it can take a while for them to make the step up and we may have to be patient, but he is someone who scores goals and, if you are a natural goalscorer, it doesn't matter what level you are at.

"Brett scores with his left foot, his right foot and with his head and is desperately keen to learn. Hopefully, we will get the best of him. We already have some very good players here and these two are great additions to the squad.

"The lads who are already here can see that we are bringing in good calibre players to add to the squad and they will be encouraged by that."

Defenders Louis Carey and Christian Ribeiro and midfielder Kalifa Cisse were today set to continue their comeback from long-term injury in a behind-closed-doors practice match against Aldershot Town at City's Failand training headquarters.

But the game comes too soon for striker Danny Haynes, who has only recently returned to training, while newcomers Stead and Pitman will be held back in readiness for Saturday's assignment at Portman Road.

Cole Skuse, pictured left, became the latest player to join the casualty list when he damaged a knee and was carried from the field on a stretcher against Barnsley on Saturday.

But the midfielder has suffered nothing worse than bruising to the bone and, although doubtful for Saturday's trip to Ipswich, he is expected to be back in training within a matter of days.