THE struggle to bring in much-needed reinforcements is ongoing.

David Hopkin remains glued to his mobile trying to persuade free-agent players – and their agents – to join the fray at Valley Parade.

With January still two months away, City need immediate help in the long slog up to that point.

Hence Hopkin’s constant battle to lure players willing to give it a go in the survival scrap – if only to show they are fully match fit for a potentially more attractive offer when the transfer window reopens.

The scramble for free agents may appear undignified and even desperate in some eyes.

But Hopkin admits is has become a necessity with his resources still limited.

Up to two years ago, the head coach could have dipped into the emergency loan system.

But the scrapping of that at UEFA’s insistence to make sure England complied with the rest of Europe removed that safety net.

Lower-division clubs questioned the reasoning at the time – and Hopkin insists City’s current plight highlights once again the short-sighted thinking behind the blanket policy.

He said: “It’s different if you’re a Championship or Premier League club because you should have a big enough squad to cope. You should have good enough younger players to fill a bench.

“But I think the loan window should be open all the time for League One and League Two.

“You might get five or six players at every club in the Championship who aren’t playing. It gives them an opportunity to go and play or younger players.

“It would make League One a bit more competitive.

“Most clubs might not use it because they’ve got a strong enough squad.

“But if you have got injuries in certain key areas, like where we are just now, you’re trying to shoehorn in people and ask them to do a job that they’ve probably never played in their life.”

Bringing in goalkeepers at short notice has been an exemption but that has also been tightened up.

Hopkin, who is still without back-up keeper Ben Wilson through knee injury, added: “Even with goalkeepers now, you struggle to do it. It used to be that an emergency loan on a goalkeeper was fine.

“We are where we are just now. There’s no point in me going over the same things every week.

“I just need to stay strong for the players and hopefully when everybody’s back fit, we’ll be stronger than ever.”