Neal Ardley says he is desperate for new signings at Notts County and is planning talks with the new owners next week.
The Magpies were beaten 3-1 by York City on Saturday as they rounded off their pre-season campaign in disappointing fashion.
With the National League campaign set to begin next weekend at Eastleigh, the defeat highlighted the vulnerabilities of the squad, particularly in defence.
But a transfer embargo needs to be lifted before Ardley can make signings again with brothers Alexander and Christoffer Reedtz, who bought the club on Friday, confident they will be able to start trading again next week.
And Notts boss Ardley says his squad seriously requires reinforcements with just one natural centre-back on the books in Pierce Bird, and a general lack of physical presence.
“We have to give up every hour to get players in,” he said.
“Hopefully I am going to be meet the new guys again, or at least one or two of them, on Tuesday.
“We haven’t got bundles of money. I know they are going to try to increase the budget and help, but a lot of it is already used up.
“If we had a clear summer, I would have said the squad needed an overhaul.
“That’s not going to be easy in a week leading up to the season, but we certainly need to man-up as a team.”
With the National League renowned for its toughness and relentless physical nature, Notts’ frailties were exposed by a York side who were well worth their win.
Dan Maguire opened the scoring, before Macaulay Langstaff doubled the lead after trialist Kyel Reid had got caught in possession outside his own box.
Bird did pull a goal back with a header, but York immediately responded when Alex Kempster powered beyond Ross Fitzsimons.
Ardley said the manner of the defeat highlighted why he is so keen to add more presence.
“Hopefully other people can see that we are really short,” he said.
“The boys have worked hard through pre-season.
“In the last six years when I’ve done pre-season we arrange the big games such as Ipswich and then we have the games that are a bit more physical.
“In both the games against Alfreton and York we struggled and that’s what we struggled with last year.
“It shows us where we are short. We don’t need to be a fitter team as the boys have worked hard on that side, but we need to be a more manly team to be able to cope with the league.
“The reason we got relegated last year is because we were not strong enough for the league.”
