Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson has said he is delighted to add Conor Sammon to his squad and has made a good signing in tough circumstances.

The striker has joined on loan from Hearts and will now compete for a starting spot in Robinson's team. The manager said Sammon is the perfect fit for his side's style and can thrive at Fir Park. With the player saying he wanted to put down roots and remain at the same club for a while, Robinson didn't rule out a longer stay and said he had made a good signing in a market that gets harder every year.

"Let's see how he does," Robinson said. "Obviously he's here for a year to start with.

"When we recruit we're in a very small market. Half of the Conference clubs in England pay more than the bottom half of the Premiership.

"And some people don't want to come and play in Scotland so, considering what we could recruit and the money we could pay, Conor Sammon is going to be a good signing for us. He adds a lot of strength.

"I've repeatedly said that I want to strengthen 12 to 18 in the squad and I think I've definitely done that."

The nature of the transfer market has been highlighted with Adam Rooney leaving Premiership runners-up Aberdeen to join English Conference side Salford City. Robinson says he knows that he is in competition with clubs of that level constantly and it can make it difficult to land targets.

"I actually competed with Salford for two players," he said. "I got one of them, who was Liam Donnelly, and I completely lost out on another when they blew us away with money.

"That's a club that's going places but that is what you're competing with. We're talking at Conference level here.

"Obviously [Salford] have a lot of backing and a good manager, so they are an attractive proposition for players now.

"We see Adam Rooney who has done it here, done very well and scored a lot of goals, and he's dropping down to a Conference side so it's getting tougher."

The Motherwell boss couldn't offer a solution to the problem but said he wasn't complaining, having been aware of the restraints when he took the job.

"It's difficult when it's finances," he said. "With Salford it's slightly different because they see the ambition but there are a lot of Conference clubs. I tried to sign a Conference player and he's gone to a League Two club on double the money of my top paid player.

"So it does make it difficult. We're shopping in a small market of players and you have to be right on the money and when you do bring them up you're competing with the bottom half of the league.

"It's tough but we knew that before we took the job. It's not like suddenly we've not got any money.  We've probably got a little bit more than we did before so we're ok."