Freedman looks set to miss out on Chelsea midfielder Jack Cork and Everton forward James Vaughan, who was on loan at Selhurst earlier this season.
But the Scot is not giving up hope of bringing in reinforcements and expects a host of late deals to go through.
"We're working every minute and we'll be working until the final minute of the deadline," he said.
"These things seem to work with a trigger effect.
"We know Darren Bent went from Aston Villa and the money gets flushed around and one or two things start to move. So we may have to wait until the big boys get what they want, then they let one or two out and we can all start to do more business."
Source: PA
Source: PA