Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy said he must deal with the reality of the club's lack of transfer window activity as he prepares to head back to Manchester United for Friday's FA Cup fourth round at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman, who scored 150 goals in 219 games for United, took charge of Premier League Leicester in November having been assistant coach and briefly interim head coach at Old Trafford.
Leicester are third from bottom, two points off the safety zone, and made one signing in the window, spending three million pounds on centre back Woyo Coulibaly from Parma.
"When you strengthen the team, your chances will improve, there's no doubt about that," Van Nistelrooy said of the club's failure to deliver many reinforcements in January when talking to reporters on Thursday.
"But the means were not there to do so. It wasn't possible. Also the loans were blocked because we have two players. The disappointment is that two loans are not having the minutes so they're not strengthening the team. We looked at foreign loans."
Premier League rules say clubs cannot register more than two on-loan players at any one time and Leicester already have midfielder Facundo Buonanotte from Brighton & Hove Albion and forward Odsonne Edouard from Crystal Palace.
"The idea was that there were certain possibilities, but when the numbers came on the table it turned out to be different and we had to reassess and see what we could do in that framework.
"It's not a question of being disappointed. It's a question of reality and where the club stands. We had to deal with the restrictions."
Leicester, who were promoted last season, are the subject of ongoing arbitration proceedings over the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules.
"We needed to impact the team with impact players and we weren't able to get them because of the balance of opportunity and restriction," Van Nistelrooy said.
"We tried. The focus was on impact players. With Coulibaly, we did it, but other opportunities weren't possible."
Leicester will put their relegation fears to one side as they take on Van Nistelrooy's old club United on Friday.
"It's special to go back there. I have history as a player, as an assistant, as a caretaker. My focus is on my players and my team, to get the best out of them and to show what we're about, in the fight and in the spirit," he said.
Van Nistelrooy confirmed that 15-year-old Jeremy Monga and 17-year-old Jake Evans will be on the bench on Friday.