Hibernian manager Lee Johnson would love to find a replacement for Martin Boyle in the January transfer window - but insists his priority will be offloading fringe players.
The Easter Road boss admits he has been left with a bloated squad following his signing spree following his arrival in the summer.
Johnson recruited 14 first-team players and now has a first-team pool of around 28 players.
The capital outfit have so far used 30 players across their League Cup and Premiership matches and have the returning Kevin Nisbet to add to their options when the top-flight resumes against Rangers a week on Thursday.
Boyle will be missing for that game and for at least the remainder of the campaign after pre-existing anterior cruciate ligament damage was discovered during a cartilage operation on duty with Australia at the World Cup in Qatar.
And Johnson has confessed his options in trying to find a back-up to the winger could be limited by the numbers he already has in his squad.
He said: “We can do our best to replace him [Boyle] but he is one of our stellar signings isn’t he? If this was the MLS he would be our ‘marquee’ player.
“We just can’t cope in terms of maximising ourselves without our best players fit. Every team, everywhere in the land gets injuries but if you are lucky it’s not to your best players.
“That bit has been disappointing but at the same time it gives other players opportunities.
“With two thirds of the season to play, and a very important cup opportunity, we have that laser focus on that prime 14, 15 players and getting the best out of those.
“We believe in the ones we’ve got - get them physically right and make them feel a million dollars.”
He added: “The first thing we need to do is trim the squad. We’ve got far too many players at the club and far too many players who I don’t see as infiltrating the first-team over the short to medium term.
“It can cause you problems when you have an overinflated squad, because people want to play football.”
