Chris Lakey Two 17-year-old hopefuls have been put on standby for City's trip to Hillsborough after Glenn Roeder's bid to bring in reinforcements before the loan deadline failed at the final hurdle.

Chris Lakey

Two 17-year-old hopefuls have been put on standby for City's trip to Hillsborough after Glenn Roeder's bid to bring in reinforcements before the loan deadline failed at the final hurdle.

Midfielders Tom Adeyemi and Korey Smith - both products of the club's Academy system - will be waiting in the wings today as Roeder names a 16-man squad made up of all the fit players available to him.

Roeder allowed striker Jamie Cureton to join Barnsley on loan on Thursday, and then, when he thought he had wrapped up a deal to bring in reinforcements, saw his plans ruined - and he wasn't impressed at the player's explanation.

Other than confirming his target was not a striker and was currently with a Championship team, there were few clues as to the player's identity. But what Roeder did reveal knocked on the head rumours that he had been in the market for Newcastle's David Edgar and Andy Carroll.

"It was very close," he said. "It was four o'clock, an hour before, which was very frustrating. I was expecting that the player would come. We have got into this scenario that I got into this time last year when I tried to bring in a couple of senior players on loan.

"They seem to be in the comfort zone of maybe only playing sometimes for their team and the rest of the time maybe sitting in the stand but staying where they are not really wanted rather than come somewhere they are wanted and play football every week.

"I just think it is really a sign of the times. This particular lad had been playing quite regular football for his first team, but had become surplus to requirements in the last couple of weeks and would have been a good signing."

It left Roeder, who is likely to be without left back Ryan Bertrand (upper leg muscle) and right-back Elliott Omozusi (hamstring) - down to what he reluctantly acknowledged was the "bare bones".

"It is literally 16 fit seniors," he said. "We have got to a situation at the moment where the squad picks itself. We are not quite at the situation where the team picks itself, like at times last year. I don't really like the saying bare bones, but we are very short on numbers."

Adeyemi and Smith are two of the young players that Roeder has trusted with their first professional contracts.

"Tom and Korey would be (squad numbers) 17 and 18, two very young pros - they are, of the outfield players, the two that I am most hopeful will make a breakthrough at some stage towards the end of the season," added Roeder.