IT is not a favoured policy for United manager Martin Ling but diminished numbers will force him to dip into the loan market this season.
The squad is slightly smaller for the current campaign and the reversion to seven substitutes means the boss must find an extra two bodies for his match-day squad.
“We are working from a 22-man squad and 18 people will be involved on a match-day, so everyone will play games,” said Martin. “Last year, we had a 24-man squad and only need five substitutes.
“If you take a team away and a player makes the bench, so he gets changed and knows he has a chance of playing, the natural reaction is they feel part of the game.
“If you’re left in the stand, that is when disgruntled players emerge but my bigger worry is finding 18 players for every game. We don’t have an abundance and there are youngsters here, so we will have to top up at some stage.
“We took in four loans last year and I’m not a massive fan of the loan market, but I fully understand we will need to top up this year.
“We have got two people for every position, except for centre-half. That is the one area we are a little weaker, even though the three currently in that position have been brilliant.”