CHRIS Hughton remains confident he will sign three players this month, but the Newcastle boss has warned Leeds United he will draw a line under his pursuit of Jermaine Beckford if the current impasse between the two clubs is not broken quickly.

Despite beginning their pursuit of Beckford before Christmas, Newcastle officials have been unable to agree a deal with their counterparts at Elland Road.

As a result, Beckford remains a Leeds player, and with Magpies owner Mike Ashley extremely reluctant to increase the £1.5m bid that was rejected at the end of last week, a compromise agreement currently appears as distant as ever.

That is bad news for Hughton, who has watched loanee Marlon Harewood return to Aston Villa and had been hoping to have a replacement in place ahead of next Monday’s crucial Championship promotion meeting with West Brom.

Instead, the Newcastle boss continues to receive regular bulletins detailing a lack of progress with regard to Beckford, and while the 26-year-old remains his primary target this month, he will not allow other players to slip through the net as a result of Leeds’ intransigence.

Hughton is known to have monitored alternative strikers in the first half of the season, and is prepared to draw a line under his pursuit of Beckford rather than end the month without an attacking acquisition.

“There comes a time when we will have to look elsewhere,”

said the Newcastle boss, who is combining transfer business with the preparation of his team for tomorrow night’s FA Cup third-round replay with Plymouth Argyle.

“We’d prefer to do our business early and there comes a stage where, if you have a specific target in mind, you have to move on to other targets (if nothing is happening). We have our targets, but situations can change over a period of time. We have to work around that.”

Beckford would fill one of three positions that Hughton has designated as a problem area to be resolved this month.

As well as signing a centreforward, the Magpies manager is also keen to recruit a centre- half and a right-back to cover the slots that were filled by Zurab Khizanishvili and Danny Simpson in the first half of the season.

Simpson, whose loan is due to expire in the immediate aftermath of Monday’s game with the Baggies, could yet return to Tyneside on either a permanent or loan basis.

But his situation is complicated by the defensive injury crisis that has engulfed Manchester United in recent weeks, as sources in Manchester claim Sir Alex Ferguson is yet to decide whether to hold on to Simpson during the second half of the season.

“Any conversations between ourselves and Manchester United remain private,”

said Hughton. “As things stand, West Brom is his last game, but he has done very well and it is something we are working on.

“It is one of the areas we have consistently said we want to bring players in, although, in Ryan Taylor, we do have a player who has played a lot of games at right-back.”

Nevertheless, Hughton remains confident he will have three players in place by the time the transfer window closes on February 1. The Magpies could still make emergency loan signings after that date, but their manager is aware of the potential disruption that could cause at a critical stage of the campaign.

As a result, he will continue to push Ashley to do all he can to ensure a transfer breakthrough within the next three weeks.

The pair held a detailed discussion on Sunday, and Hughton expects to be welcoming a trio of new arrivals soon.

“Is there a chance we won’t sign anyone? I can’t see that in all honesty,” he said.

“I don’t want to categorically say that won’t happen, but I can’t see it. I am still confident – very, very confident – that we will get the three players we want to add to the squad.

“I’ve identified the players we’d like to bring in, and the choices and alternatives we have. But the logistics of that, whoever needs to be spoken to, is done by others.

“That way, it doesn’t become too much of a distraction for me.”