A frustrated Alen Stajcic has hit out at A-League bosses, accusing them of backtracking on promises that would have allowed Perth Glory to strengthen their depleted squad in the January transfer window.
Perth have been in limbo since the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) removed the club's licence from the control of Tony Sage last July and placed Glory in receivership.
A proposed deal for a new owner collapsed in November, leaving the APL steering the ship.
It leaves Stajcic staring at a bleak outlook, with the club nine points adrift of the A-League Men top six heading into Sunday's meeting with Wellington Phoenix.
"The APL have given us notice that we can't do any business in January," Stajcic said.
"At the moment, we are under their control and we can't utilise any of the prospects that we were looking at or any of the finances that we might have saved.
"They've all disappeared and we can't do any business in this window.
"The receivers and the APL have reneged a little bit on an assurance we were given a month ago.
"Ultimately, it doesn't affect how we play on the pitch, but it's disappointing and it just makes it tougher.
"We're going to see how tough we actually really are."
Stajcic said the setback had made him even more determined to turn around the 11th-placed Glory.
The former Matildas boss appeared resigned to losing Oli Bozanic and possibly Jarrod Carluccio, both of whom are on loan from the Western Sydney Wanderers.
"That deal (for Bozanic) is off, we can't re-sign him at this point," Stajcic said.
Adding to Stajcic's woes is the fact that captain Mark Beevers is likely to be sidelined for up to six weeks with a knee injury.
"We're going to have to fill that void, and that was probably the most pleasing part about last week is that some of the players stepped up," Stajcic said.
"The way that we played, the spirit and the heart and the culture within the group was the best I've seen.
"So if that's our foundation, I'm really confident moving forward that we can fill in the gaps that might present themselves on or off the pitch."
