Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has revealed he is not concerned by the lack of new signings during the January transfer window.
Boss well aware of budget restrictions
Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has revealed he is not concerned by the lack of new signings during the January transfer window.
Villa chairman Randy Lerner is keen for the club to cut its costs and that has been reflected in the transfer budget made available to McLeish.
Shamrock Rovers full-back Enda Stevens joined at the start of the month for £250,000 and is the only permanent signing so far, while Robbie Keane joined on a three month loan from LA Galaxy.
No more new faces are expected at the club ahead of the transfer deadline on Tuesday evening.
However, former Birmingham boss McLeish insists he is not bothered by the lack of funds, as he was made well aware of the club's financial situation when he moved from City last summer.
"I'm not frustrated at all because I knew what the parameters were," he said.
Honest
"If you know in advance, and you're working with your board and they're honest, then if they say 'no' then at least you're getting that answer.
"It's not 'maybe we will, maybe we won't', and that's what leaves you frustrated.
"We know the course we're steering, and we've got to keep on that road."
Meanwhile, McLeish has backed striker Darren Bent to grab his 100th Premier League goal against QPR on Wednesday.
Bent, who moved to Villa Park from Sunderland in a £24million deal last January, is currently stuck on 99 and McLeish has hopes can reach three figures against the Londoners.
"It would be great to see him do that," added the Scot. "He's been in good form and was tremendous on Sunday.
Kidding
"The boys were kidding him on, saying Robbie (Keane)'s ahead of him.
"So maybe he's got to chase Robbie and make that his first target."
McLeish also played down rumours that the striker was agitating for a move, saying: "I've never seen any bad attitude in him at all.
"There were a couple of games where he was frustrated because he felt he could have scored more goals, but it's great when strikers feel like that.
"He's certainly back on the scoring trail at the moment."
