Steve Bruce has revealed he has only sufficient funds to buy one player during the January transfer window to help Birmingham's bid to survive in the Premiership.
Bruce admitted that he has to make sure he brings in "the right player" and it is uncertain whether he will pursue his interest in Charlton striker-midfielder Jason Euell.
The two clubs have agreed a fee but there have been no discussions with Euell regarding personal terms.
Bruce's concerns in terms of his strike force has eased with scans showing that Emile Heskey's knee setback is not serious and he was on the bench for the 2-0 FA Cup replay win over Torquay at St Andrews.
Mikael Forssell gave further indications that his long-term knee problem is behind him as he scored the second goal via a cross from man of the match Jermaine Pennant.
But ideally Bruce would like a front-runner with pace to compliment Heskey, Chris Sutton and Forssell and he may pull the plug on any moves for Euell as he can only afford one addition to his squad.
Bruce, who brought in Sutton on a free transfer from Celtic, admitted: "I've just got to weigh up my options. Obviously with the knock Emile took and the fact he needed X-rays and scans, I couldn't be seen to dive into the market with that hanging over me.
"If he had been out for two or three months, and with Mikael Forssell the way he is and having just brought Chris Sutton in, then having three strikers is not that healthy.
"But we are not awash with great pots of money. I've got to be careful. There is probably room to add one player to the squad so I've got to be extra careful that, when I spend that money, it's the right player for the squad."
Forssell and David Dunn, out for the best part of 12 months after his back surgery and subsequent injury niggles, both came through 90 minutes against the Gulls.
Bruce said: "The huge pleasing thing for me is that it is Mikael's fourth 90 minutes in 18-19 months and Dunny's fourth 90 minutes in two years.
"We can see the emergence of two real players for us. We hope they can stay injury free. We are due that bit of luck and we all know those two in anyone's team makes a hell of a difference."
Defender Martin Taylor could be struggling to be fit for Saturday's crunch clash with Portsmouth after suffering ankle and leg injuries against Torquay and he will undergo a scan today.
Torquay manager Leroy Rosenior saluted his team's performance and said: "I was proud of my team for the 90 minutes. They took a bit of time to settle the nerves and once we did that we gave them a really good game.
"We created the better chances in the first half and really needed to take one of those to make them go in at half-time just a little bit more nervous.
"In the second half they moved the ball a lot quicker and made it difficult for us but we stuck in there and we kept going to the end.
"The second goal killed us off but we played for 90 minutes and with pride - and I don't think we could have done anymore."
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook
