OXFORD United boss Darren Patterson admits he may go after one of the EIGHT well-known players who have been dramatically transfer-listed by Conference rivals Rushden.

But ex-U’s midfielder Andy Burgess is unlikely to be one of them!

Diamonds’ decision to make eight of their biggest earners available for transfer when the January window opens, or more immediately for emergency loan, is an indication of financial pressures at Nene Park.

And boss Garry Hill has conceded that some of the players he went for in the close season haven’t come up to scratch.

Along with Burgess, Rushden have transfer-listed Phil Gulliver, Leon Knight, Lee Phillips, Lee Tomlin, Curtis Woodhouse, Sagi Burton as well as Dean McDonald.

Expected to be battling for the automatic promotion places, the Northampton- shire club are below halfway in the table, and were embarrassingly knocked out of the FA Cup at Evesham last Saturday.

Patterson said: “Two of the eight do interest me.

“We’ve only got two more loan spaces left because you can only play five, which is a rubbish rule at this level.

“The loan system is something you’ve got to be careful about.

“A lot of people are negative towards it, but people like Hereford played it fantastically well, and had about nine or ten and it got them promotion.

“I think the ones we’ve brought in have been the right type. They’re in the last year of their contracts, and they’ve got to do well enough not only to get back in where they are, but to get a club somewhere.

“And, more importantly, they want to get a contract here.

“So it’s worked well for us there, but we have only two left and I’d like to get them in two areas I have pinpointed that need strengthening, and I’ll be looking to do that as soon as I can.”

Patterson said it had not got as far yet as a phone call to Rushden, but there have been early soundings-out.

“No, not yet. But agents yes. There’s two players there that would definitely interest me, but then there’s players that interest me at other clubs, and Mickey (Lewis) and I have been to watch other games to look at them.”

He added: “There were a few big hitters who went for it in the summer.

“Obviously, we weren’t one of them, but Rushden were. Money’s clearly tight, but it is generally in football at the moment.

“There’s a lot of high profile clubs, and a lot of Premier League clubs, that are on the brink and struggling. And if that happens, it’s going to find its way all the way down.

“You’ve got to be clever, and wheeling and dealing is a big part of it.”