The former Reading boss has made three additions to his squad so far this summer, with Matt Smith and Noel Hunt joining on free transfers from Oldham Athletic and Reading respectively, while midfielder Luke Murphy commanded a seven-figure fee from Crewe Alexandra.
The Whites suffered a 1-0 pre-season friendly defeat at Walsall on Saturday, and McDermott admits that he has been left frustrated by a lack of transfer activity.
"Am I making any progress? We'll see what this week brings," he told the Yorkshire Evening Post.
"I'm saying the same things and saying nothing really. There's one player I've been trying to get for a number of weeks and that hasn't changed."
Striker Steve Morison has left the club to return to Millwall on a season-long loan, and McDermott says more will need to follow suit to allow for new faces.
He added: "From our point of view I'd suggest we're in a situation where we probably need a player to go out the door before we can bring one in the door. That's where we're at.
"We've had nothing concrete yet. We'll have to see what happens."