MO BESIC’S Riverside return may mean Middlesbrough have made a breakthrough in their attempt to strengthen the squad, but Tony Pulis’ position remains unaltered: he wants more new signings before the deadline.

Having played 15 games last season when on loan from Everton, Bosnian international Besic completed the formalities of a season-long loan yesterday.

The midfielder is unlikely to start this evening’s game with West Bromwich Albion at the Riverside Stadium, however, and Pulis has been left frustrated in his pursuit of Yannick Bolasie.

Pulis had hoped to complete a double raid on Everton, but the manager explained Aston Villa’s location made the Birmingham club a more appealing option for the London-based former Crystal Palace winger.

While Pulis’ team have started the season well with three wins and a draw, the manager often reiterated that he wants more new faces to bolster Boro’s push for promotion.

Pointing out the demands on squads in the Championship, he said: “We’ve have a really, really good start, the performances have been very, very good but, we've got 14 weeks of three-game weeks this season. So when you look at the amount of game time players have to play in this league, you have to have a strong squad.

“In the Championship you have to turn up every week, I don't think any team is good enough to think they are good enough to just turn up and win a game football.

“In the Premier League, if you look at the top teams who have such a great depth of talent, they can turn up and maybe turn up sometimes and not perform to their maximum but still win games.

“I think in the Championship you have to be at your maximum every week to get results and even then sometimes you won't get results, things will go against you but you have to turn up every week.

“So the demands on the players are big, so you need that depth.

“How many I need and how many I get we will wait and see and it's no secret, the chairman knows, the people around the football club know, the supporters know, the people in the dressing room know, we need players in and the sooner we get them in the better.

“Up until that point, the players that have been picked for this football club over the four games have been absolutely fantastic, there's been no problem with them whatsoever.”

Pulis even suggested that, at a later date, chairman Steve Gibson could elaborate on the club’s frustrations in the transfer market.

“We’re spinning a lot of plates, they’re not coming off for us at the present time and nobody is more disappointed than myself when we lose out on a player," said Pulis.

“My job is to do the best job for this club with what I’ve got and try to get the best players that I can get, and that’s what I’ll continue to do. If I take a knock I get back up and get on with it.

“It’s a difficult window and there’s a lot of things that Steve would most probably like to talk about afterwards. I’m not in a position to do it. It’s a difficult window in lots of respects.

“There's a frustration that you don't get what you want at times and you have to accept that and move on. It's no good crying in your soup that you are not getting what you want, you've got to try and try and keep trying and that's what I'll do until the window closes.”

While the deadline for permanent deals passed on the eve of the season, the cut-off point for loan transfers is August 31.

Pulis, who said at yesterday’s press conference that no players would be leaving the club, added: “We’re trying, we're doing our best, the football club has been working hard to get the players in.

“It's a difficult market and even into next week I think it will become more difficult because people are then chasing (targets).

“That's what happens with markets, when they close I think the market gets tougher as it gets to the end, not during the middle or the beginning.

“It's a really difficult market and because we haven't signed any players yet, the frustration builds with everybody but it's not through the lack of trying and a lack of not having a go.”

Pulis has used a 3-5-2 formation since the second match of the season, a 3-0 home win over Sheffield United, a system that the manager admits he would not have chosen, but the sale of Adama Traore without a natural replacement led to him looking for an alternative.

“We’ve had to change systems,” he explained. “If I’d had the wide players that I wanted then it would be pretty well set up in what we want to do but at the moment, maybe at times it doesn’t suit us to play the way I want to play.

“The most important thing as a manager and a coach is to find out what’s best for the players, and at the moment I’ll work towards getting the best out of the lads and the best system.”

Stewart Downing operated on the left of a three-man centre midfield, and Pulis added: “Stewart is one of my favourites, I’ve always rated him as a player, he’s a wonderful talent.

“The thing with Stewart is that he’s 34 years of age now, we’ve got to get someone similar to Stewart because he is not going to play three games as a week continuously from now until the end of the season.

“We want his quality, we don’t want a tired Stewart Downing.

“He’s been fantastic so far, he’s fitter than he’s been for a long time and he’s enjoying his football, he has a smile on his face. And he looks what he is – a real class player.”