Eddie Howe has admitted that Newcastle United's current league position is a 'concern' when it comes to convincing targets to join the club next month but the Magpies' boss remains hopeful of finding 'a couple of solutions' in the mid-season window.
Newcastle's new owners may have big ambitions, but the black-and-whites are currently three points from safety in 19th place at the moment.
Newcastle have won just one game all season and if Howe's leaky side are to defy the odds and stay up, quality reinforcements are going to be needed in January - particularly at the back.
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It is a difficult window to do business in at the best of times - clubs are desperate to keep hold of their best players because there is so little time to replace them - and Howe knows that some targets may be put off by Newcastle's perilous position in the table.
"Wait and see on that one," he told Sky Sports. "It's very difficult for me to give you an answer to that as we stand.
"I think there are a few challenges we face. The availability of players: will they come with our current league position, which is a concern?
"January is notoriously very difficult. I found that as a manager all through my time so they're the challenges we're going to work under, but we're going to do our best to find a solution."
There may be 60 points still to play for on the field, but what happens in negotiations in the coming weeks will have a huge bearing on whether Newcastle can ultimately beat the drop.
Although Howe has been focused on getting more out of his current group of players, the club's owners and recruitment team have been working hard to deliver his preferred targets to give Newcastle a fighting chance in the New Year.
"A good window for us looks like a stronger squad than when we started the transfer window but, for me, that doesn't give any guarantees of what we can and can't do," Howe added.
"We're endeavouring to make sure we're prepared as we can be. We're doing the work behind the scenes, which we need to do.
"I still think that the squad we have is the biggest strength that we currently have in our fight against relegation that will go all through the season.
"But if we can find a couple of solutions and make the team stronger, the squad stronger, then we'll certainly look to do that."
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