Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes believes the Dons have taking an unnecessary risk in leaving their transfer dealings until deadline day.
It was a frantic deadline day at Pittodrie last week as the Dons sold Sam Cosgrove and Scott Wright, while Curtis Main also departed the club and Bruce Anderson joined Hamilton on loan.
Three strikers – Fraser Hornby, Florian Kamberi and Callum Hendry – all arrived before the midnight deadline to round of a hectic day of activity, but the delay meant the Dons missed out on other targets including duo Ross Stewart and Eamonn Brophy, both of whom were attracting interest from the club before joining Sunderland and St Mirren respectively.
McInnes is frustrated at being left to wheel and deal on deadline day at a time when the need to refresh the forward line had been evident before the window opened.
He said: “There are a lot of things I’m not particularly pleased about. We could have maybe done some of the work earlier in the window this time around, but we had to wait on Sam Cosgrove’s money coming in before we could make some headway in making signings.
“Scrambling about the window on the last day is not how I wanted it. We shouldn’t be scrambling about trying to get loan signings in.
“We knew we needed to strengthen the forward line before the window opened and we have done that with these new boys and now we have to get them up to speed.”
Despite the delay, McInnes remains confident his side can still claim third place in the Premiership despite falling five points behind Hibernian with 11 games remaining.
The Dons boss has also reiterated his belief it is a feat which should be celebrated.
He said: “There is a lot about the team that is right and we’re still up there challenging for third spot. But for us to be confident of achieving what we want to achieve we need to improve between now and the end of the season.
“I don’t buy this that our budget is way above other clubs. We’ve got a competitive budget and we’re pleased with it, but it doesn’t take us away from other clubs.
“We have to do a lot of good work to finish third every season and we have to do a lot of good work as a club to qualify for Europe.
“To do it for eight years in a row in the top places and get European football – if it was easy everybody would be doing it. It’s not easy and it has been a real challenge this season.
“What we need to remind the players is that finishing third for other clubs is like the Holy Grail. But finishing third sometimes does not feel like that anymore for Aberdeen.
“But it’s something that the players and I have to work towards. It’s still the same achievement as it was in my first year.”