"The chances of bringing squad players in on loan has not been fruitful," he admits.
"I have looked and will always be looking for players to bring to the club - but they have to be the right players who will take us forward.
"They are few and far between but obviously there is not much money available either so that brings the numbers down in terms of the list."
Revealing his main area of concern he adds:
"We do need one or two and I am certainly looking for someone who can offer something down the right side, different to how we can play at the moment, and that is my focus.
"I hope to bring someone in, but by the same token they have got to be good enough to wear a West Ham jersey, and that is the problem.
"This is a daunting club for some players and if I am bringing in I want to make sure they are the right player.
"We need a win desperately in the situation we are in at the moment and we need someone who can deal with the pressure we are under.
"I am just looking at Saturday's game and I think we are well fixed for Saturday and next week but it would always be nice to have one, two, three, four more players.
"But we haven't got that luxury, and they know they have got to respond -and I do as well - to get the right result."
At least Alan is heartened by Michael Carrick's return to fitness - and feels he will carry on getting better.
"I'm sure Michael was watched the England game on Saturday feeling he's got the quality to be a part of it, but he needs to be consistently out on the pitch to do that.
"I know Jermain feels the same; England were hunting around for another striker and I think he's the man, but he can't play for England when he's missing for five games - though once the ban is out of the way he, like Michael, has got to look at the European Championships and I think they've got a realistic chance of getting in there."