Sir Alex Ferguson has dropped the clearest hint yet that January will be a quiet month on the transfer front for Manchester United.

United have been linked with a number of top players, including Dimitar Berbatov and Nicolas Anelka, but Ferguson said: "I think the squad is good enough. We don't always get great joy in January, I have to say. It takes time for players to settle in when they are midway through the season - look at what happened with Evra and Vidic when they arrived - so we are conscious of that."

Both players took time to adjust to the rigours of Premier League football after signing in January 2006 but now are established first team players. However, Ferguson accepts that there are areas that need strengthening, especially in defence, as his side pursue three trophies.

"Maybe we are short of cover in the left-back area now Gabriel Heinze has left but other than that, we are okay," Ferguson said.

Paul Scholes, Park Ji-sung, Ben Foster and Mikael Silvestre will all return from major injuries to further bolster Ferguson's resources.