Sky Sports News * will be having its countdown clock ticking down, as the seconds disappear before the close of the August transfer window. Tuesday is Deadline Day. Let silly season commence.

The Transfer window closes at 6pm on Tuesday evening for clubs in England, and for Dale, it will primarily be a case of holding on to our players. A number of our players will have caught the eye

Craig Dawson is without doubt the most sought after of our players. He has been linked with a whole host of clubs in recent times, with only Middlesboro coming close to making a firm offer - an offer that was ever so politely declined.

Dale have been resolute with their handling of the Dawson saga in that he will not be allowed to leave until an offer meets our valuation, which is believed to be in excess of a million pounds.

Chris O'Grady is another for whom we will have to battle off the suitors. His 22 goals last season caught the eye of everyone outside of Boundary Park, and his excellent start to the 2010-11 season will not have put anyone off.

Still only 24, O'Grady picked up the man of the match in the game with Birmingham City last week, and he could easily be a target for any side who have struggled for goals early in the season.

The good news for us is that our club is in a relatively healthy position right now, and we won't find ourselves having to sell like we did the times that Le Fondre and Murray left the club. Keith Hill was quoted after the game on Saturday as saying: "The chairman has been superb and won’t accept any bids unless they are right for myself, David Flitcroft and this football club."

Of course, reality has shown that this deadline has always been something that can be worked around. Players without clubs will still be able to sign for clubs, and loan deals can still be made. Indeed, in the past we've got round it by signing players on loan with a view to a permanent transfer.

* Freeview viewers will have to trust me on this

Photo: Action Images

shelltone added 17:51 - Aug 30 please dont let scott wiseman go we need the lad with his attacking play
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ColDale added 18:44 - Aug 30 full backs don't tend to go for big money which has to work in our favour. I can't see any club offering us that much money to tempt us.
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