THE Hibernian head coach Alan Stubbs has refused to confirm or deny whether he is trying to snatch Billy McKay from under the nose of Dundee United.

However, Stubbs admits a new striker is the missing piece of the jigsaw.

McKay has been linked with the Leith outfit despite United having a bid in the region of £200,000 accepted by Wigan Athletic for the Northern Ireland internationalist.

Stubbs is keen to add more firepower to his attacking options despite already having Jason Cummings, Farid El Alagui, James Keatings and Dominique Malonga at his disposal.

But the one-time Celtic defender refused to shed any light on whether former Inverness marksman McKay is his No.1 target.

Stubbs said: "There are quite a few names. I am not going to confirm or deny any names, I think it would be wrong to do that – especially when players are at other clubs.

"We are still actively looking to bring in a player, so until we are closer to doing that then there will be speculation but I am not going to comment on that.

"Is a striker the last piece of the jigsaw? I think so, I think that is fair to say. I don't think we will be doing much more than that.

"This is the final piece and we want to make sure it is the right one.

"I don't think we'll get one in before Saturday but things can change very quickly in football.

"Over the next few hours suddenly you might get a phone call which means you could start to move. But at this moment in time I am looking to it going towards Monday. But if it changes and it is before then, great."

Hibs are set to come up against Jon Daly on Saturday after the striker signed for Raith Rovers on a deal until January despite Stubbs being interested in the experienced former Rangers player.

Stubbs added: "We made a phone call to see what the situation was but there was nothing more than that.

"There was no offer. We did make contact to ask about the situation.

"Obviously we are looking for strikers and he is a striker that is out there. We wish him all the best now he has signed for Raith, but not on Saturday obviously."