YORK City boss Billy McEwan has confessed the club will not be able to compete with the likes of Oxford United and Exeter City in the Conference transfer market this summer.

McEwan scoured neighbouring reserve sides, part-time football and his native Scotland to recruit the likes of Clayton Donaldson, Mark Convery, James Dudgeon, Emmanuel Panther, Jamie Price, Nathan Peat and Joe O'Neill on free transfers before the start of this season.

And the canny Scotsman is likely to explore those same sources as he looks to strengthen his squad during the next three months.

McEwan offered new contracts to ten senior professionals at the end of this season but Conference top scorer Andy Bishop has already left for Bury and the City manager has also signalled his intention to bring "six or seven" new faces to the club for the 2006/2007 season.

He has, however, warned supporters that other Conference clubs could wield greater bargaining power than his KitKat Crescent outfit.

McEwan said: "I'd have liked to have kept some of the players we released, who did well for me, like Dave Merris, Joe O'Neill and Steve Thomas, but simple economics meant we couldn't afford to because we can't have a big squad and I need to look for better players.

"Our club is still growing and recovering, however, and I don't imagine we will be competing with the likes of Oxford, Exeter and Hereford if they stay in the division.

"I think our fans understand that."

Updated: 10:01 Wednesday, May 10, 2006