WITH the paucity of a desperately weak attacking performance in mind, Ronnie Moore will again be out to add to his options this week.

But the Hartlepool United boss has long accepted he is up against it. Since the opening of the transfer window on January 1, its closure at the end of the month, and then the option of making emergency loan signings, Moore has been swimming against the tide.

He’s found it hard to attract the signings he wants and Pools are running out of time and games at the bottom of League Two.

Moore, with Pools going to Bury on Saturday, said: "Bringing one in all depends on what we can find.

"I have looked for the striker, I have a list as long as my arm with no's on it.

"That is why we went for the experience of Marvin Morgan but he has been missing games. If you are going to get yourself fit then you have to run about.

"He should have been running around like a two-year-old, express yourself and put them under pressure.’’

Neither Morgan nor strike partner in crime Marlon Harewood made any sort of impact in losing to Stevenage, leaving Moore and supporters deeply frustrated alike.

"This was the biggest game we have had for a long, long time,’’ he said. "No doubt about that, I hadn't said that to them but I knew it and they would have known.

"Yet they produce such a lacklustre performance, I wouldn't say gutless but it wasn't far off.

"We are back down to that sweat, blood and tears.

"If we had done that we'd have had half a chance, you have to be physically strong and if you do that you win the game.

"We have better individuals than them, I can't say that often.’’

Harewood was hauled off at half-time, with replacement Scott Fenwick scoring within minutes of his introduction.

"I could have taken off either Marlon or Marv,’’ said Moore. “The ball was coming back far too quickly and far too easily.

"Words were said at half-time, if they had showed that feeling out there on the pitch then I wouldn't be doing it. It happens.

"We are all over 21, I have to make a decision, and like I said to Marv, it could be you, it could be him.

"It was heads or tails who came off - you go with a gut feeling.

"If I had another striker, it would have been both of them.

"Scott was struggling a bit with his ankle but if I wanted to start him, I could have done.

"But we had won in midweek and Marlon's hold-up play was good against Northampton and brought people into play.

"That wasn't there against Stevenage.

"They were physically stronger and shouldn't be.

"You have to back in and make it hard but we couldn't get out because we weren't holding the ball up.

"It can be mental as well as physical, it depends how big your heart is.

"If you have a big heart, you will fight the world but if you have a peanut in there you will be struggling."