Town boss Kieran McKenna says money will be made available to strengthen the squad during the January transfer window but with the Blues limited by Financial Fair Play rules.

The Championship’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules dictate that clubs can lose up to £39 million over a rolling three-year period or an average of £13 million a season.

That limits the scope that clubs have in the transfer market, especially those, such as Town, without Premier League parachute payments.

“We've had initial meetings on that,” McKenna said when asked about what funds he might have made available to him during the window with another striker appearing even more of a priority with George Hirst out with a hamstring injury.

“We will have a budget available for January that really fits within our Financial Fair Play [restrictions] as a newly-promoted, non-parachute payment team.

“The current restrictions of Financial Fair Play mean that you can't go and spend huge figures on players without selling players first. That's the reality of the position that we're in. 

“So, the owners are very supportive. They look to support the group as much as possible. And if we find a suitable player who we think can improve us, ideally in the long term but also help us in this season, we know that they'll be there to support us.

“But we also know that the restrictions of Financial Fair Play are very prevalent. And that limits what teams in our position can do.”

McKenna, who has said the Blues won’t be looking to sell during this window, was asked whether recruitment might be easier in this window with Town second in the Championship compared with last year when they were in League One.

“There's some truth and it's always better when you're having a good season,” he said. “But to be honest, last January wasn't too hard either.

“The more tricky one was probably summer 2022 and the players that we brought in last January, the majority of them we tried to sign the summer before. I think the George Hirst one is maybe well known.

“So I think as you're building your style and building the team and developing that, it's harder to sell it before there's a big body of evidence out there. So it was easier last January to sell that the playing style would be really good.

“We'd be getting full stadiums and playing really good football at the top end of League One, scoring a lot of goals and being a team that would be exciting to play for. That was a much easier sell last January.

“And hopefully, the same this January as well. As a newly-promoted team, of course, we had confidence in how we'd go about things and we had full conviction in how we were going to approach the season. 

“But it's not always easy to… not convince, that's the wrong word, but externally it's hard for anyone to have that conviction. I think that's normal.

“But yes, we're in a position where I think the style of play is pretty clear now and the atmosphere in the stadium is pretty clear. The momentum around the club is pretty clear, and that certainly makes it easier than if you're at the wrong end of the table. So that helps.

“I know we had a fantastic last January, it was in a different division but it's still a really difficult window to find players who are ready to come in and help the team in the short term, who are fit and available. 

“And it's a difficult market, according to your position as a football club as well, and where that sits within the football structures.

“So we're going to try our very best to improve the squad and we've done that in every window so far and let's hope from the end of this window, we'll be in a stronger position than we are today as well.”

Fulham's on-loan striker Jay Stansfield, currently on loan at Birmingham City, is known to be a player the Blues have long coveted, while Sunderland are also now reported to be interested.

Photo: TWTD

Facefacts added 18:20 - Dec 28 Hard to attract players if they have the Sky opinion that we will be mid table before long. Where he says this: "it's not always easy to… not convince, that's the wrong word, but externally it's hard for anyone to have that conviction. I think that's normal" I think he means we won't be bringing many, if any, in. Or playing down expectations, so, there will be a striker in loan to replace Dane Scarlett. That's already signalled. It will be one out, one in. He would need to find buyers for squad players who don't want to leave, before we can go out and buy.

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alial added 19:47 - Dec 28 Not sure why you are being downvoted FF. It’s all well and good going out and spending big on players to push for promotion. But what happens if it doesn’t work out? In 3 years we could be back in League 1 having had point deductions and probably losing Mckenna and some players too soon. I don’t want to be that club. The club who fails by overspending and underperforming. Whatever happens, I trust the board, Ashton and Mckenna to make the right decisions this January. How many decisions have they got wrong in the last 2 years? That’s exactly what Mckenna is saying here. Stay within FFP and only sell if it will benefit the team and we can bring someone ‘better’ in. We might get 1 or 2 forwards in on loan, but unlikely to see a sizeable transfer fee unless we sell one of our players. I do fancy Broadhead as a striker in this team with Chaplin in behind though!

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BobbyBell added 21:12 - Dec 28 Lots of people think that we can just spend but we can't. Deals must be done to keep us within FFP. Loans could get us promoted and then then we would be less restricted. MA and KM will do their very best but we can't expect big name proven players. There are however players struggling at other clubs who could just suit our style. I'm sure that we have identified some likely targets so lets be patient and trust our club and our coaching staff to do their best for us.

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blueboy1981 added 22:30 - Dec 28 I think the comments prove there are many If’s, But’s, and Maybe’s ahead - we are an awfully long way realistically off Premiership Standard, and may well struggle to maintain our current position, and challenge for such. Pundits seem of the opinion we will fade into Mid Table - it could prove to be a reality this season of our eventual situation. Tough times, and some huge decisions ahead. We can but hope for the best on all fronts. We’ve ridden the Crest of a Wave, and above expectation of most of us, to be fair - and done extremely well thus far !

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pennblue added 07:07 - Dec 29 All we have to concern ourselves with is beating QPR tonight. We will strengthen but we are not going to come out and say we got loads of dosh to spend, that would just attract the wrong type of player and the wrong type of agent. Players that want to come and play here will do so because of the Manager, the playing style, and the momentum we have. We score a lot of goals, so ANY striker not playing 1st team football in the Premier League should be interested in coming here, even if it is just for a loan. It is a total no brainer for them.

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CaptainAhab added 08:41 - Dec 29 Blueboy - absolute tosh. There's nothing to suggest we'll fall away to mid table, and I've not seen any pundits suggest it either. Yeah we may not finish in the top two, but the football we're playing is some of the best I've ever seen. We've not fluked our current position, you're just a Debbie Downer aren't ya?
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Flamencaman added 10:42 - Dec 29 Whilst we may not be top 6 Premier league candidates at the minute bet we could finish above bottom 5-6 with 2-3 additions no problem then move up again the next year, the infrastructure is in place, we are now a proper professional outfit again, from the tea lady to the bosses at the top,Happy & Successful new Year everybody
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Europablue added 11:05 - Dec 29 Anyone suggesting that we will fade into mid-table is an idiot. Just look at that lead we have on teams in mid-table. We will have to be on relegation form to lose that lead on teams on mid-table form. We might well fade into 5th or 6th, but I would not be at all surprised if we finished above Leeds considering how inconsistent they are. Southampton are the current form team, so they are the biggest threat to our current position. Nothing would surprise me too much. Southampton's form will drop off a little at least. We have no idea what effect the January window will have as well as injuries.

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carsey added 11:41 - Dec 29 Trust McKenna, Ashton and the owners to do what's best and just enjoy where we are and what we have achieved. Nobody expected us to be where we are at this stage of the season so keep the faith. COYB
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shakytown added 14:10 - Dec 29 We cannot and should not just bring in big names for the sake of it. They have to be a long term prospect or a loan with the right attitude or it could do more harm than good.
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