Jim McIntyre will be doing all he can to add to his barebones Arbroath squad over the next couple of months.
The Gayfield manager was forced to use his back-up goalkeeper as a striker in Saturday’s remarkable comeback against Raith Rovers.
Ali Adams ultimately produced the goods, sparking the comeback with a goal-of-the-season contender, but they lost their only two recognised central defenders before that.
Aaron Steele and captain Tam O’Brien didn’t train last week and were both replaced on Saturday.
McIntyre used all four substitutes he named at the weekend and is desperately working to get players in during the January transfer window.
Tuesday’s match at home to Dundee United may come too soon, however, and McIntyre could be forced to go with fewer players than the squad he named for Raith Rovers.
Jim McIntyre: Keeper experiment a one-off
“It doesn’t get any easier as we are probably going to have even less bodies than we started with against Raith Rovers,” he said.
“There will certainly be players playing out of position but that doesn’t mean we’ll be in a situation where we are pitching Ali Adams back in as striker.
“That was an emergency, a one-off and it will probably never be seen again.
“I don’t know if we’ll have more bodies in before United come to Gayfield.
“There will be phone calls being made and some have already been made but January windows are traditionally very tough to get players right away.
“Generally the teams you are speaking to are waiting on their targets which then releases players. That means you need to have to bide your time.”
One positive is that Innes Murray will be eligible to play after signing as a free agent earlier in the month. That followed his release from Edinburgh City.
Arbroath ‘have had it hard this year’
Jay Bird will also be back from suspension but, with David Gold and Jermaine Hylton also going off injured in Saturday’s draw, Arbroath will be up against it when they host a team that has lost one league game all season.
“Arbroath have had it hard this year against Dundee United and so they should when you consider the level of resource and player they’ve got,” said McIntyre.
“I’d expect that for us as the part-time team, having the lowest budget in the league.
“Since we’ve come in the form that we’ve shown will help us. We have been resolute and the structure has been good.
“The group have been giving me absolutely everything and I must get players in to try and help the ones we’ve got already.”
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