Nigel Pearson admits Bristol City may need to change their short-term transfer focus this month following the hamstring injuries to both Andi Weimann and Tommy Conway.
The attackers both came off against Swansea with the Austrian ruled out for "two to three weeks." There is greater concern over the severity of Conway's injury with the manager refusing to put a timeframe on his return to action although ruled out the possibility of requiring surgery.
Their absence will prove a significant loss for Pearson with 10 league goals and seven assists between them. Conway is the club's top scorer with nine in all competitions.
Pearson has reiterated the priority to sign a new central defender during the January transfer window if funds allow. He is also in the market for an attacking midfielder who has the ability to turn a game on its head having expressed a desire to sign Reda Khadra on loan before his loan move to Birmingham City was confirmed.
When asked on an injury update, Pearson said: "Andi will be about two to three weeks. Tommy will be a bit longer but he doesn't need surgery so it will be a bit of a longer one for him.
"It's disappointing for both of them. Tommy's our leading scorer this season and he's had a really positive breakthrough season so it's a shame for him but it's something that we'll deal with."
That leaves Antoine Semenyo and Nahki Wells likely to start while Sam Bell could also earn more minutes from the bench having enjoyed a prolific campaign for the Under-21s. Chris Martin has fallen out of favour with Pearson suggesting he could leave the club this month.
When asked whether the injuries will shift his recruitment focus, he added: "It all depends on what’s available as well. It doesn’t change the longer-term plan because we know where we want to strengthen and how we want to strengthen.
"But when you get these shifts that happen in the space of one game where two players get injured, in four positions, yeah it does mean that you have to evaluate what the options are if we do need to move on that. I can’t give you an absolute concrete answer because believe me it’s so fluid.
"We’re realistic about our own circumstances, and there is no point going on too much about it. It’s frustrating we would like to develop the squad further but at the moment we’re in a position in those regards and get the best out of the players we currently have.
"We’ve had a number of young players break into the side over the last season-and-a-half and they’ve done particularly well. It’s been needed.
"It’s good for us in that sense and the club is in a healthy position and the squad has value now, which is another real positive. It doesn’t address people’s desires to move the squad forward quicker by making changes.
"The summer will hopefully be a watershed moment in those sorts of terms. Fans get a bit tired of us asking and me asking them to be patient, but it’s what we have to do at the moment. We’ll endeavour to do what we can in the short-term.
"It's not about value for money it's about whether we can or can't do them. As I already explained, we're still in a situation where we can't really make any movement at the moment. That's where we are."
Having poured cold water on reports linking Bristol City with defender Finley Burns, Pearson spoke about his disappointment at failing to sign Khadra who will make his debut against the Robins for Birmingham this weekend at Ashton Gate after joining on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion for the rest of the season.
"It’s a shame, but he is a player you know we have had an interest in," he said. "There is no point in losing any sleep over it because we weren’t in a position to move on him, so there we are."
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