Steven Hammell says Motherwell 'are at the mercy' of Burton Albion over striker Louis Moult, and whether his season-long loan is to continue.
The player has returned to the League One club after aggravating an ankle injury following the 1-1 draw at St Johnstone on November 12, the final game before the World Cup break.
Moult, 30, also underwent a minor procedure in October in an attempt to solve the problem.
Hammell said: “There is nothing to update on Louis, when there will be, the club will put something out.
“I think we’re still at the mercy of Burton with that, in terms of where he’s at.
“But right now he’s not fit to play.”
Motherwell have strengthened their squad with the signing of 23-year-old Sligo Rovers centre-back Shane Blaney, on a two-and-a-half year deal.
Blaney is no stranger to Motherwell fans, having scored against them in the Europa Conference League qualifiers defeat that ultimately cost Graham Alexander his job.
Hammell says the quest to add to that is ongoing.
He said: “It’s a constant. I’m doing phone calls, I was on a Zoom call on Christmas Eve, and late last night, Boxing Day I was on a Zoom call until about 9.30pm.
“It’s a constant process, it’s constant work. It’s a landscape that changes every day.
“Sometimes there will be a player who is available, that might change, he might come into the team, he might not be available and that’s a constant process, something we’re on every minute of every day.
“It’s something we need to be ready for, if something drops we need to be ready to act on it.”
On Blaney, Hammell said: “He’s a player who plays with personality, he’s a good player, he’s a player we feel we can improve and progress.
“It’s a position we’re short in, as there are other areas on the pitch.
“He has come into the group, he has been a good addition already and we look forward to having him available in January.”
Hammell admits squad numbers are currently low, and he’s struggling for players.
He said: “Numbers are low, not just in defence. Paul McGinn has trained for a very, very short time, he has not done as much prep but he came in and for the best part did very, very well.
“That is consistent throughout the squad in terms of numbers. Even late in the game, you look at trends just now and top teams especially are getting an impact 60-70 minutes in at the top end of the pitch.
“It was something for the Kilmarnock game we planned for, we wanted to ideally win the game and win it quickly because we don’t have that kind of impact in terms of a striker we can bring on and really commit and give us a different dimension.
“We are happy with the players we have got but we have a couple of big players missing and hopefully we will have them back as soon as possible plus potentially adding a couple in January.”
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