Canvey Island manager Steve Tilson admits he’s missed out on players in recent weeks because of budgetary constraints and their desire to play at a higher level.

The Gulls boss has been looking to bolster his squad since the departures of Dagenham & Redbridge loanee Louis Dennis and new Concord recruit Leon Gordon.

Tilson said: “We’ve gone for a couple of players who have gone to other clubs.

“There are not lots of players out there who we will have enough quality to add something to what we’ve already got, there are only a handful we’re interested in.

“And we’re still hopeful of getting the right sort of player in.

“But, yes, we’ve missed out on a few due to money and also because they wanted to play at a higher level.”

Canvey's trip to15th placed Cray Wanderers today (Saturday) was postponed because of a water-logged pitch.

That will give defender Rickie Hayles and midfielder Rob King more time to recover after they both picked up knee injuries in Tuesday’s abandoned game at Thurrock.

It was 0-0 when the ref decided to call the game off at half-time because of continued heavy rain.

Tilson said he felt it was the right call.

He said: “The ref was close to not even starting the game to be honest. He said he would give it a go but that if we got more heavy rain it was 99 per cent likely it would be called off.

“He got me and Stimmo (Mark Stimson, the Thurrock manager0 in his room at half-time, and we agreed it was right to call it off.

“I was pleased with our performance on a difficult playing surface in in that first half, though, and on another day we could have been three or four up.”