Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe admits they face a battle to land their top targets this January market.
New defenders are high up on Howe's shopping list next month, but the 44-year-old is well-aware that targets may be put off by Newcastle's perilous position in the table.
"We obviously have players that we are looking at and we've identified," he said. "Between myself, the coaching team and the recruitment team, we have a big body of people working on behalf of the football club to try and find a way to strengthen the squad.
"The work's been going on all through December. A lot of detail has gone into that process but, as we all know, you can have the most detailed process in the world but if players don't want to come to your team or clubs don't want to sell those players, the challenge of January becomes very difficult so we're under no illusions and there's no promises made on what we can and can't do.
"But the work is going on behind the scenes to try and makes that happen."
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