Birmingham boss Garry Monk has admitted he is still unclear about his club's ability to complete transfer business ahead of their opening-day clash with Norwich City.
The Blues have only made one signing this summer, signing left-back Kristian Pedersen from Union Berlin for around £2million at the end of June – amid speculation of a transfer embargo.
Talks with the EFL are reportedly ongoing to assess whether Birmingham are capable of complying with Financial Fair Play and when Monk was asked by Birmingham Live if he was still hopeful of doing further business ahead of the August 9 deadline, he replied: 'Of course. Obviously we're still waiting on some clarity on the whole situation, as are the club.
'Like everyone else I'm waiting for that clarity and when it comes through we'll be able to see what we can do.'
While the Blues will also have until the August 31 deadline for loans Monk's side managed a positive final pre-season result, holding Premier League side Brighton to a 1-1 draw at St Andrew's on Saturday.
Maikel Kieftenbeld's 30-yard thunderbolt 10 minutes before half-time looked to have won the friendly, only for Yves Bissouma to salvage a draw for the Seagulls in the closing minutes. That denied 22-year-old goalkeeper Cinnal Trueman a clean sheet, as Monk continues to leave the more experienced David Stockdale in the shadows.
'The lads were all a bit deflated in the dressing room afterwards about that late goal going in and Connal especially deserved a clean sheet. He did really well,' Monk said, speaking to his club's website.
'We rate Connal very highly. We think he's got huge potential, a young keeper who has acquitted himself fantastically in pre-season. As I've stated already, the goalkeeping position is one that we want to strengthen, but Connal has done well and we think a lot of him here. These kinds of experiences are only going to help him.'
Of the draw, he added: 'I was pleased with a lot of things. It was always going to be a tough game against Premier League opponents and I thought we acquitted ourselves well.'
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