Reading manager Paul Ince admitted there is no light at the end of the tunnel regarding the transfer embargo.
The Royals have not spent a penny on transfer fees for three years after being punished for breaching Profit and Sustainability regulations.
Having to reduce wages and being forced to buy free agents or loans, it has been a tumultuous time in Berkshire.
Speaking after Reading's third defeat in four matches, losing 2-0 to Watford, Ince shed some light on the upcoming transfer window after the World Cup break.
"None whatsoever [light at the end of the tunnel]. We go with what we’ve got unless you sell players, but even then, you don’t get the transfer fee anyway.
"You’re on a certain wage and there’s not much we can do. We’ve already got five loans, if you start looking at freebies, what have they been doing for the last three or four months?
"We’ve got a squad of 25 already, we’ve got some young kids in there on the bench so unless we move some of them, then we have to go with what we’ve got.
"All you people [journalists], and myself in the years when I wasn’t managing, heard the word embargo and thought they should be able to deal with it. Unless you experience it you don’t know how tough it is."
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