THREE bids lodged, three bids rejected. The January transfer window is proving frustrating for Ronnie Moore.

The Hartlepool United boss has so far been unable to add a permanent signing to his Hartlepool United squad.

Even making bids for players hasn’t paid off as Moore has had three cash offers knocked back by different clubs.

Striker Billy Paynter will be available for tomorrow’s home game with Exeter, but the chances of having a new recruit as a front-line option are receding.

A loan move for Luke James, the former Pools striker, was scuppered last week by Peterbrough after it had already been arranged.

Moore played down the possibility of going back in for him yesterday: “Luke James? Where did you get that one from? I don’t know anything about that…. We’ve been trying to get a striker in, no doubt about that. We have bids in for three players, disappointing for us they’ve been turned down.

“A couple want to go south instead of coming to the north, so that’s disappointing.’’

One of his striking targets, Oldham striker Rhys Murphy looks set for Crawley, and Moore said: “We try, we look. It’s not like the chairman isn’t doing anything about it. We’ve been all over the place looking, me, Sam (Collins), the coaching staff.

“Supporters want us to sign someone, but it’s got to be the right one and you can’t dive in for the sake of diving in. We’ve tried and we keep trying.’’

He added: "One of them is dead in the water, basically because of a southern connection.

"But we are hopefully, we have gone back with improved offers on two of them, so we're just waiting.

"We might have one in on Saturday and that would give me another headache, which is good, that's what we need.

"If we have two decent strikers then why just play with one up top? We might go 4-4-2 when we get the striking partnership right up there."

Pools have played 4-4-1-1 of late, with attacking midfielder Jake Gray suited to the role behind the front man.

Moore admits he has yet to decide on tomorrow’s formation.

The manager added: “We will use the loan market if need be. Fingers crossed we can get one of our own, but at this level we all use the loan system and it’s vital.

“But it’s nice to be in a position where we can buy a striker or put bids in, but sometimes the price gets exaggerated over the value of the player you are looking for.

“It’s proved tricky to get players to move here, but there’s North-East lads who will want to come home. It’s about finding the right blend, the right people to come in, but we won’t buy someone for the sake of it.

“We want someone to benefit the side, not for the short-term, but longer-term as well as you have invested money on a transfer and wages.’’

Meanwhile, midfielder Brad Walker looks set for a further chance to impress Wolves.

He played for their Under-21s on Monday night and boss Kenny Jackett said: “We’ll probably be inviting him back again.

“He had a good game, showed a good passing range I felt, both short and long."

“He did have two days training with us some weeks ago.

“We obviously wanted to follow up that with a game and we’ve been waiting for the right game to put him in.”