I know my hands are tied in the January window...

GARRY Monk admits he will be driven by necessity when the transfer window opens next month.

The Birmingham City boss will once again be operating with extremely limited options – with just scope for adding just one player.

It will be the second transfer window running that Blues will be working within EFL constraints after they breached Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

And Monk concedes he will have to take a pragmatic approach.

“We all know what our restrictions are, what we can and can’t do. Of course we are monitoring that situation,” he said. “We have one place left we can possibly use but at this moment in time nothing is clear with that.

“We do our work and due diligence on that but at this moment in time that’s not a focus for myself.

“Of course, we have been working behind the scenes to identify all areas and see what is available. It is limited in terms of what we can do.

“It’s not exactly the greatest pool of players you can pick from, like the summer - and do what you’d ideally like to do.

“It will be dictated where we’re at with the squad because it can change week to week.

“Jota will be back. [Isaac] Vassell is back in training and he’s a little bit longer away. David Davis is back on the grass running which is really good although his return is longer term.

“They should be in and around that window when they come back – David Davis and Isaac Vassell.”

If everything goes well Vassell could come into contention at some stage next month, while Monk hopes Davis’ excellent rehabilitation could have him integrating more fully into training by the end of January.

He was, though, keen to stress that Davis has several hurdles to overcome before a more accurate prognosis could be given.