Brian McDermott insists he will not be tempted to dip into the loan market despite the stand-off crisis besetting his Harlequins RL side.

With Luke Dorn set for another two months on the sideline with his shoulder injury and fellow number six Luke Gale recently breaking his jaw against the Catalan Dragons, the Londoners have been left without a recognised stand-off.

But McDermott has vowed to stick with what he has.

He said: “Obviously the situation is not the best but we do not have much room for manoeuvre.

“We could look at bringing in someone on loan, but the truth is there is not really anybody out there.

“The fringe players at other Super League clubs are concentrating on breaking into their respective first teams and in all honesty it is not that easy to convince someone to come down to London for a month.

“We will be without Gale for another two weeks, so we will look to use Chad Randall, Danny Orr and Chris Melling as a group, although youngster Martyn Smith will definitely get a chance.”

Smith did indeed get his chance in Friday night’s 28-4 loss at Hull, part of a Quins side that once again showed admirable graft with little to show except Tony Clubb’s try.

The Quins coach also admitted he would not be surprised if he loses on-loan star Ben Jones-Bishop any time in the near future.

Rumours have circulated this week that the Rhinos may recall Jones-Bishop after the injury to winger Scott Donald.

And McDermott accepts he is powerless to prevent the departure of his blossoming full-back.

He added: “As things stand I have not heard anything but it would not be a shock.

“Obviously if Ben was to leave early I would not be happy but I would not really have anything to grumble about.

“He has done an outstanding job for us so far and all we can do is make the most of him while he is here.”

Harlequins RL’s next three matches: Mar 5 Leeds (a), 14 Salford (h), 20 Huddersfield (h)