PARS boss Allan Johnston says he wants to keep Farid El Alagui but admits finances could prove a deciding factor.

After tying up a return for central defender Callum Morris, there was more good news for supporters on Tuesday as it was confirmed John Herron and Paul McMullan would both remain on loan with the club until the end of the season.

The transfer window rumour mill has already started to link Johnston with moves for a number of players but, while he expressed his hoping of reaching an agreement with El Alagui, any contract extension may depend on players leaving on loan. Cowdenbeath made an enquiry over Conner Duthie’s availability but Gavin Reilly will not be recalled by parent club Hearts in this window.

The French-Moroccan striker, 31, has hit four goals since signing until the end of this month in September and Johnston told Press Sport: “It’s one of those situations where Farid has got an option as well but it works both ways. I’ve spoken to Farid; he’s one that I think is a different type of striker to what we’ve got just now and has done well for us. I would like to keep him if possible but sometimes it’s to do with finances as well. We’ve brought Callum in but we need to balance the books as well.

“I like to have four strikers, so we’ve got the two who have been playing and then Gavin (Reilly) and Farid putting pressure on them. I wouldn’t like to lose him but it’s not just our decision.

“It’s good when you’re linked with good players and you want to bring in players who will improve the team. It depends what happens with other players as well though because we probably need to get a couple of boys out on loan. You want to keep everybody happy and some boys need a few games so we might have to look at that over the next couple of weeks.

“We’ll look at the squad; it depends on suspensions and whatever so we don’t want to leave ourselves short. You’re always on the lookout but we’ve got a strong squad as it is, they’re playing well and have a lot of confidence. The only reason we’d look to bring someone in is if they have a lot of quality.”

Johnston has room to bring in a development loan from another Scottish club, as well as temporary deals for players from elsewhere.

Ahead of Saturday’s clash with bottom dogs St Mirren, Johnston welcomed David Hopkirk back to training this week and has no fresh injury concerns.