Dundee United boss Mixu Paatelainen has confirmed he will look to buy in order to reconstruct his squad.
The Finn has adopted a pragmatic approach since taking charge of the Tangerines last week and just a few days into the job he is considering bringing in reinforcements.
That will likely happen in the new year when the transfer window opens but the head coach did not rule out moving even faster than that by snapping up free agents if they are good enough.
United sit bottom of the Premiership after the first quarter of the season four points adrift of second-bottom team Partick Thistle and their predicament has led club legend Maurice Malpas to recommend that Paatelainen sign some “seasoned pros” when he gets the chance.
It appears that there is every chance that will happen, with the former Hibs and Kilmarnock gaffer hinting that he has been given the green light by the Tannadice board to spend some money.
Paatelainen said: “We are in a poor position but there is scope to hopefully bring players in – that’s certainly the indication.
“We will get there slowly but surely.
“I don’t have a specific number of players in mind that we need but there are certain areas where we need to strengthen.
“I think we need to strengthen up front with attacking players but we will also look at other positions.
“It is difficult because January is a difficult window, never mind just now when the window isn’t open and only out-of-contract players are available to us.
“There is always a question mark over why certain players are out of contract.
“We will look at every option and thankfully there are loads of players being put to us so we will look at them and assess and see if a player would suit us.
“We might do something and we will see what options there are.”
The Tangerines face the always daunting task of travelling to Glasgow on Sunday to play league leaders Celtic.
You have to go back to the period just after Paatelainen left United as a player – December 26, 1992 to be precise to find the last time United beat the Hoops at Parkhead, with Duncan Ferguson getting the goal in a 1-0 victory.
It looks, on paper at least, the last match he would choose to face given his team’s position but Paatelainen will go west in a positive frame of mind.
He said: “Everything seems to be going against us at the moment but our approach is just to keep the head down and improve by taking small steps.
“If we improve a little bit every week, we will get there.
“Celtic are a quality side, no question.
“They will dominate the match no matter how we go about it but we have a clear plan regarding how we are going to go about it and we will try to be competitive. “
As well as planning to reshape his playing squad, Paatelainen has been busy piecing together his backroom team.
Assistant manager Gordon Young has been in since last week and he has now lined up Stuart Garden as his goalkeeping coach.
Graden’s contract has not been finalised yet but the former United goalie and Montrose manager will leave Airdrie, where he has been coaching their keepers, to join Paatelainen and Young this week.
Paatelainen said: “We have Stuart Garden as the goalkeeping coach.
“He hasn’t signed a contract yet but he will. Everything is in place.”
Paatelainen is not keen to dwell on United’s injury problems, once again part of the pragmatism that sees him playing the hand he has been dealt.
However, he did say that Paul Dixon could be back in a fortnight or so after having surgery, while Callum Morris and Chris Erskine remain on the sidelines.
The United manager added: “It will be two or three weeks away from now that Paul Dixon will be fully fit. He’s had the hernia operation.
“Callum Morris has had a little setback. I was expecting him to train this week but he will be a bit longer.
“Chris Erskine is coming along but that will be a long one. It’s an inflammation problem.
“So the injury list is big but I don’t want to talk about that too much.”