The Toffees boss has been thwarted in his attempts to bolster his squad this summer, with transfer targets either proving to be unavailable or unobtainable.

The Scot accepts that new signings are crucial if the club are replicate their fifth place finish of last season, but will not abandon his principles as he continues to search for suitable reinforcements.

Moyes was forced to field the most inexperienced substitute's bench in the club's history at the weekend, as the Toffees went down 3-2 against Blackburn at Goodison Park.

Despite the inevitable problems a reliance on youth can bring, the experienced coach is adamant that quality rather than quantity remains his policy ahead of the closure of the transfer window on August 31.

"I'm not changing," Moyes told the Liverpool Echo.

"I'm only going to bring quality in. We haven't got the money to go out and buy six £15million players.

"We don't have that, so of course we are going to bring players in who are down at the lower end of the market.

"But, as I've always said, I'm looking to get the main players in first. Then we will look at what we can do after that."

Everton continue to chase Sporting Lisbon playmaker Joao Moutinho, but a defensive-minded midfielder in the mould of the recently-departed Lee Carsley would be a more suitable option.

Moyes was forced to pair Jack Rodwell and Phil Jagielka in the middle of the park on Saturday, a far from ideal situation as Rodwell is only 17-years-old and Jagielka is a centre-half by trade.