91Èȱ¬

League Two Aldershot have signed young West Ham United striker Paul McCallum on loan until the end of the season.

McCallum, 19, has already enjoyed a successful loan spell at AFC Wimbledon this season, scoring four goals in nine games, despite being sent off on debut.

He is needed because Aldershot have six players out on loan, a situation criticised by manager Andy Scott.

"It's been out of sight out of mind a little bit, which is naive with a club of this size," he told 91Èȱ¬ Surrey.

McCallum, who signed a new contract with West Ham in January, tying him to the club until 2015, increases Scott's attacking options as Aldershot fight for Football League survival.

They are 19th in League Two, three points above the relegation zone, but are unbeaten in their last five league games.

Scott said the squad was "very, very light of experienced players".

He continued: "We've had the lads who are out on loan training with us so we can keep an eye on them first-hand and we're looking at other players we know of in non-league, and my scouting contacts are looking at players, not just for this season but for next season and the future as well.

"Bradley's [Bradley Bubb] come back and trained with us and made it clear he wants to stay and he has scored 13 goals (for Woking) in the Conference Premier, which is no mean feat.

"We'll keep an eye on him and all the others who are out, and we'll probably bring one or two back when their loans are up because we need them around us and we want them to be part of what we are doing and part of the group."

Talks about new deals with those who will be out of contract at the end of the season would have to wait until the club knew which division they would be in next term.

"Everyone accepts the situation we're in, we need to be safe, once we're safe we can sit down and talk to everyone knowing where we're going to be, and that's understandable," Scott added.

"Our concentration is on getting enough points to ensure we are in the Football League next season, and until that happens I wouldn't expect anyone to be knocking on the door."