Airstrikes alone may not be able to stop the advance of Islamic State fighters in Syria, US officials have warned.
Barack Obama met military commanders to discuss the campaign against IS in Syria and Iraq amid fears troops would be needed on the ground.
"Our strikes continue, alongside our partners. It remains a difficult mission," the US President said.
"As I've indicated from the start, this is not something that is going to be solved overnight."
US-led airstrikes have continued on Kobani - where IS militants have been fighting a fierce battle with Kurdish forces - although senior commanders have warned the Islamists could still take the strategic border town.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said: "Airstrikes alone are not going to do this, not going to fix this, not going to save the town of Kobani.
"We know that. And we've been saying that over and over again.
"We all need to prepare ourselves for the reality that other towns and villages and perhaps Kobani will be taken by IS."
Rear Adm Kirby said troops would be needed to defeat IS, adding: "We don't have a force inside Syria that we can co-operate with and work with."
The US military's Central Command said American-led forces carried out 14 coalition strikes on Wednesday and 19 bombing raids near Kobani since Tuesday, in an attempt to help Kurdish militia.
"Indications are that Kurdish militia there continue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL," a statement said.
Activists said the strikes killed at least 45 IS militants since Monday evening, forcing the group to withdraw from parts of the town.
Over the past few days, thousands of IS fighters armed with heavy weapons looted from captured army bases in Iraq and Syria had managed to push into some areas.
The fighting has forced 200,000 residents and villagers to flee and seek shelter across the border in Turkey.
Idriss Nassan, deputy head of Kobani's foreign relations committee, said the town was "still in danger" and more airstrikes were needed.
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Gallery: Protests Rage In Turkey Over IS
Residents walk through a damaged street in downtown Diyarbakir following overnight clashes with police
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Violence erupted in Turkish towns and cities, mainly in the Kurdish southeastern provinces, as protesters take to the streets to demand more be done to protect Kobani
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Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish settlement which has been surrounded by Islamic State fighters for three weeks
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Kurdish protesters set fire to a barricade set up to block the street as they clash with riot police in Diyarbakir
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Flames are seen near a Turkish police vehicle in Diyarbakir during a demonstration of Kurds to demand more western intervention against Islamic State militants (IS) in Syria and Iraq
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Kurdish protesters set fire to a public bank
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A branch of Halkbank is set ablaze
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Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish riot policemen
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Police used tear gas and water cannon in Istanbul
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Smokes rises from the Gaziosmanpasa district in Istanbul
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A public bus burned by Kurdish protesters is pictured at the Gaziosmanpasa district
The Kurdish population, who live in many of the areas IS controls in northern Syria, northern Iraq and parts of southeast Turkey, has been pressuring Ankara to intervene to defend Kobani.
Turkey says it does not want the town to fall and has encouraged the US to set up a no-fly zone and a humanitarian corridor (buffer zone) on the border.
France is backing calls for a buffer zone and the US and Britain said they were willing to "examine" the idea of a safe haven.
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