CHERRIES boss Kevin Bond appears to be fighting a losing battle in his attempt to bolster his limited striking resources.

Bond's options are severely depleted for Sunday's trip to League One rivals Hartlepool with Lee Bradbury and Sam Vokes both unavailable.

Joint top goalscorer Bradbury serves the last of a three-match ban, while teenager Vokes is on international duty with Wales under-21s.

And Bond's search for reinforcements has so far drawn a blank with a move for Southampton youngster Cedric Baseya biting the dust earlier this week.

Bond has until 1pm on Sunday to draft in a loan signing in time to face Pools - but admits his prospects of beating the deadline are "highly unlikely".

He added: "We need to be able to give Hartlepool some problems and if we could bring in somebody then we would. But with what we can afford and the situation we find ourselves in, I think it's going to be difficult.

"We have made plenty of enquires and we asked about Cedric Baseya, who we have seen a number of times, but it looks like he's going to Crewe.

"With the emergency loan window closing next week, everyone is looking to top up their squads to see them through and it's proving very difficult for us to get bodies in."

Meanwhile, Bond is hoping to finalise an extension of Jem Karacan's loan spell ahead of Cherries' trek to the North East. The Reading midfielder has proved to be one of the finds of the season, scoring twice in six league and cup appearances since joining Cherries last month.