THERE is still plenty of hard-bargining ahead but Sam Allardyce returned from a wasted trip to the Continent on Friday confident his Premiership prospects will be stronger than ever by the time the transfer window closes on January 31.

Rarely has the Wanderers' boss returned empty-handed when he has made person-to-person calls on potential signings but he summed up his frustration after a fruitless two-day trawl of Europe by again lashing out at the regulations that have caused him so much grief for the last two winters.

"I hate the transfer window" he declared for the umpteenth time. "I have to spend all my time trying to get players in when I should be spending the time with the players on the training pitch, especially at such a crucial stage of the season.

"With the Carling Cup semi-final against Villa and two important Premiership matches coming up, we could set ourselves up for the best season Bolton Wanderers has ever had.

"But I've just had to spend two days away from the players."

Allardyce renewed his call for the Premiership to adopt a winter break -- as they do in other countries in Europe -- to allow managers time to concentrate on transfer business during the window.

He suggested: "We could play FA Cup third round ties on the first Saturday of January then shut up for two to three weeks to give players a rest and let managers do their business.

"Managers make the wrong decisions when they are under the most pressure, and are at their most desperate.

"You make mistakes when you try doing business without time to do the right research."

Allardyce was quick to rectify one potential mistake this week when he stopped West Ham registering Anthony Barness, after agreeing to let the utility defender join the Hammers -- the team he supports -- on a month's loan with a view to a permanent deal. He was so sure he would have at least one new defender on board in time for today's Reebok clash with Portsmouth that he felt able to let Barness return to his native London on the same day reserve duo Jeff Smith and Cleveland Taylor joined Scunthorpe on loan.

He had enough irons in the fire -- Liverpool's Djimi Traore, Sunderland's Michael Gray and a couple of unidentified targets on the Continent -- but could not deliver.

He said: "I was obviously over-confident earlier in the week that I would secure somebody so I allowed the deal to go through -- being that Barney is a West Ham fan.

"In the end I just couldn't let it happen. It's probably a little disappointing for him but he should be excited about playing for Bolton Wanderers in the Premiership. What happens with that deal in the future depends on whether I am able to get players in."

The Gray deal could still be on, but Liverpool rejected the approach for Traore, insisting they were not prepared to loan players out.

"We failed for a number of reasons," Allardyce said in a general assessment of his efforts. "Money; the length of contracts we were looking at; some clubs were only interested in letting players go permanently and not on loan; some players said they wanted to stay at their clubs and fight for their places.

"All the old stories ... but some (deals) are not dead. We just couldn't sort them out for today's game.

"It's difficult at the moment but eventually I'll get somebody."

Although desperate for left-back cover following the loss of Ricardo Gardner, who was expected to fly to the USA this weekend for surgery on his damaged knee, Allardyce is looking primarily for cover for Jay-Jay Okocha while the captain is away on international duty. He believes that, at full strength, Wanderers are as strong as they have ever been.

"The first Xl that starts -- even without Florent Laville, Ricardo Gardner, Simon Charlton and possibly Per Frandsen -- is very good. But what is behind them is almost non-existent. We're down to the younger element."