Gillingham boss Mark Stimson has revealed the club can no longer afford to employ scouts, forcing him to study FA Cup opponents Stockport on DVD.
He told BBC Radio Kent: "We used a scouting company as it was the cheapest way but that has been stopped. We will be going into a lot of games blind.
"A manager has lent me a DVD of the Stockport game his team played in a couple of weeks ago.
"It has been helpful for me and I've related things back to the players."
Stimson added: "We don't like to give any players any excuses for not knowing about set pieces and things like that.
"We want to try and give them everything so they go out there and no-one can say we aren't doing our work properly.
"But some managers in your own division, where we are all fighting for the same prize, don't want to lend you DVDs because you might be gaining an upper hand."
Stimson knows a win against Stockport, and a lucrative third round draw in the FA Cup, will provide a massive boost to the club's finances.
"We'll just have to wait until January comes round and hopefully we'll be sitting in the third round of the Cup, going to Old Trafford, and getting our scouts back, and buying players, he added.
"Until then it's ifs, buts and maybes."
There will be reports of Gillingham v Stockport on BBC Radio Kent's Saturday Sport.
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