SAM Allardyce has admitted Wanderers' relegation battle is being compounded by the transfer window restrictions.

The Reebok boss says the new transfer system is proving a major obstacle in his attempts to lift his side away from the Premiership relegation zone.

Clubs are beginning to be tested by the new rules which stipulate they cannot sign players between August 31 and January 1 when they have a month to wheel and deal before the window closes again until the end of the season.

It is the same rule for all clubs but Wanderers are feeling it more than most as their limited finances dictate their squad has less strength in depth than the big clubs.

The fact that Wanderers are bottom of the Premiership pile also intensifies the need for an introduction of new blood to freshen things up and inject confidence.

The block on transfers takes away one managerial weapon Allardyce used to good effect last season when he brought players in on short term or loan deals when necessary to give his side a timely boost.

Wanderers' delicate financial situation meant that they could also get rid of players when they had served their purpose or failed to live up to expectations.

Players like Akinori Nishizawa, Kostas Konstantinidis, Djibril Diawara and Fredi Bobic all came and went with varying degrees of effectiveness while Youri Djorkaeff was drafted in in the same way to stunning effect for the last 12 games of last season.

That weapon has now been taken away from Allardyce's managerial armoury and he admits it is beginning to hurt.

He said: "We know we can only work with what we have got.

"There are no outside solutions. I have tried to build a squad as big as I possibly could before the transfer window shut.

"Of course, like every manager, his jigsaw is never complete. When you talk about the last piece in the jigsaw that will never be my idea as a manager because there will always be one more piece needed.

"We will have to wait for the next piece in January now. It's difficult to know you can't go out and get an injection into the side.

"People outside the game may say it makes coaches better and managers have to manage and all that rubbish.

"They've never been in the job, so they don't know what they are talking about.

"The bottom line is that when you can find someone who is better than what you've got it has a magnificent effect on the whole of the squad and the supporters.

"We are not able to do that until January, so it is going to take a while to get used to this new system. We are trying to manage it with a change of personnel within the squad and a change of system.

"It's very disappointing but we have to cope with it. The squad has got a chance to prove itself now because of our lack of results and they will have a chance to come in and do a job."