Tony Mowbray admits the increasing financial strength of English football means he may have to go as far as South America to replenish his Celtic squad.

The Hoops' boss attended his first Parkhead AGM on Friday morning where he was given a mainly easy ride by the shareholders, who were looking for and given assurances from the board that more money will be spent when the January transfer window opens.

Ahead of the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League clash with Kilmarnock, where Celtic can go four points clear over Rangers at the top of the table but only if they win for just the third time in 10 home games since Mowbray took over from Gordon Strachan in the summer, the former West Brom boss explained the thinking behind looking further afield.

"We are actively pursuing all parts of the world at the moment, including South America where some players have European passports," he said.

"I am trying to expand the scouting system that is in place.

"But I am looking for good footballers wherever they come from and are within the regulations to be able to play in this country.

"Within the last 10 years or so this club took a lot of players from the English Premier League.

"But I think that market is getting further and further away because of monetary reasons.

"It is quite alarming. In year one, that there is a huge gulf in finances is obvious but when you run that into years three, four and five it becomes huge.

"So the market places are elsewhere, Europe, South America and different parts of the world.

"But you don't ever complete your jigsaw, you are always looking to improve."

Striker Marc-Antoine Fortune returns to the squad after completing his recovery from a knee injury.

Number one keeper Artur Boruc and midfielder Scott Brown, however, will again miss out with respective leg and ankle injuries and are a doubt for next week's Europa League game in Hamburg.

Midfielder Shaun Maloney has tendonitis and will be assessed in the morning, while Mowbray revealed that Brown's recent trip to London to have his ankle problem diagnosed by a Specialist has failed to sort out the problem.

The former Hibernian boss said: "Fortune is back and he will create competition.

"Artur or Scott will not be ready for the weekend. We will need to see about the game against Hamburg next week.

"Scott still has the same problem (after the trip to London). He had been running clear but one tackle or a twist and he is back to where he was.

"Scott's condition can improve on any given day. It is a wait-and-see scenario although there is a longer-term picture for Scott Brown.

"At some stage we need to get to the very depths of it to make sure that the boy is 100% clear in his ankle.

"Hamilton gave us a difficult game last week, Hearts were resolute in midweek, and Kilmarnock will prove no different."