STEVE WATSON reassured fans at the forum last week that budget has not been the issue in getting players in on loan.

The York City boss said discussions "never got" to talk of the budget when he enquired about players - teams have simply been too reluctant to let players out over Christmas.

Bringing players in on loan has been an ongoing project for him and assistant Micky Cummins, who have to make sure they are the right fit. The biggest challenge is finding under-23 players who are up to the physical challenge of National League North.

He said: "We have looked at all possibilities in a number of positions.

"At the moment, we have 20 fit first-team players so we're not going to bring in players for the sake of it.

"When you bring 23s players in, it is a bit of a gamble and the players we've looked at are players we have looked at a lot and know that they would be difference-makers in our team.

"Speaking from experience at Gateshead and at Macclesfield, players from the under-23s can get caught out a lot in this league in terms of physicality.

"We have enquired about three strikers but that's not happened. We're still looking at a couple.

"They have to be better than what we've got, somebody we can bring in and know they can come into the first team and make a difference.

"And you have to trust us to do that. Everybody's got opinions but it's our jobs on the line to get the right players in.

"The budget was never mentioned. We never got that far," he added and reflected light-heartedly: "Two of the lads we looked at have gone on to score for the first team, both in the Championship, so in hindsight, we probably had no chance anyway."