Aberdeen boss Mark McGhee is frustrated not to have added to his squad before the closure of the transfer window.

McGhee had hoped to bring an attacking midfielder to Pittodrie this week but could not afford to complete the deal.

"The squad is not big enough, it's not strong enough; but any player I signed yesterday wasn't going to solve that," McGhee told BBC Scotland.

"It was still going to leave me well short of what this club and these fans expect in the long run."

McGhee has brought in three new players since his arrival from Motherwell in June.

Goalkeeper Stuart Nelson and defenders Jerel Ifil and Davide Grassi have been recruited, replacing the departed Scott Severin, Lee Mair, Jamie Smith and Bertrand Bossu.

"I was told on the day I took over how much money we could spend," said the manager. "It was put in terms of per week. That money is still available for me to add to the pot at Christmas but the bulk of it has been spent on the players we have signed.

"This is real money. This is money that you and I go to the cashpoint for, it's not fantasy money. Somebody somewhere has to pay for any player that comes through the door.

There's not a shop out there called 'Strikers Are Us' Mark McGhee

"There was a little bit of money left and for that I was trying to somehow find a player who would make a difference and go straight into the team.

"Up until Monday night I had a couple on the go, one of which I was very excited about and, without prejudice, I was committing us to a deal that I was then going to take to (director of football) Willie (Miller) and the chairman.

"I thought it was worth me going out on a limb, but in the end the club I was dealing with decided they couldn't afford to let him come for the amount of money that even I was prepared to go to.

"After that I had a list of about six or eight players from clubs down south that have never played in anyone's first team.

"I thought they would just hold up our young players and we have a lot of good young players here.

"Motherwell took the lad (Lukas Jutkiewicz) that played against us on Saturday from Everton and they will be paying more than we pay anybody here for that.

"Proven strikers just don't lie about unsigned and available. There's not a shop out there called 'Strikers Are Us'.

"Of the 30-35 players that have been signed over the summer (in the SPL), there are probably five I would want here today.

"Hibs bought the boy (Anthony) Stokes. I don't know what they paid for him but it was serious money we don't have.

"There are plenty of players out there that could tomorrow guarantee us winning third spot at least but we're not in the league where we can do that.

"I think that people have to get up to speed with the reality of where we are.

"We're having to work with young players, we're having to work with the players we have, we're having to try and steal a player here and there and be clever about it.

"Anything else we can do in between is a bonus."

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