Nigel Pearson will use the summer to build a competitive side that has the ability to grind out 'scruffy' victories as he sets an ambitious target to challenge for promotion.
The Bristol City manager quickly put the Huddersfield defeat behind him on Saturday afternoon and was eager to look forward to the summer changes that will occur over the next two months.
Pearson has been bullish in the last three weeks regarding his current squad having informed those that are not part of his plans that they should start looking for other clubs. City will release their retained list this week to provide a clearer indication of the positions that he will need to strengthen.
Although it's clear the manager already has his transfers plans and targets in mind and despite a 17th place finish this season, the manager wants to add players with a winning mentality to help achieve his lofty targets.
"We’ll get better and the challenge for us now is to put together a campaign which gives us a chance of getting promoted ourselves," Pearson said.
"That may sound like pie in the sky but it doesn’t matter. We need to aim high, there’s no point in setting the bar low. Players that come in will need a strong desire to achieve.
"I don’t want journeymen who just want to come in and play for a nice club. I don’t want that, we’re not about that. We need to find that competitive edge that allows us to overachieve results-wise.
"For a lot of our players, it’s the first season in the Championship and it is a tough one to succeed in and it’s a tough one to be able to perform at your best every week.
"What we need to add to our armoury is winning scruffily when we’re not at our best. Sometimes that’s a bit of experience and sometimes it’s having the right tools. We need to strengthen our squad, and we will do."
Pearson will prioritise strengthening at the back and was linked with a free transfer for Derby's experienced central defender Curtis Davies on Sunday. He will also look to provide competition at right wing-back having put the burden on midfielder Alex Scott to fill the problem position for the majority of the season.
However, the manager also hinted at the possibility of signing a goalscoring midfielder to ease the pressure on City's front three who have scored 42 goals this season. Scott ended the season as the fourth top scorer with four, one ahead of Nahki Wells and two more than Rob Atkinson.
"We still need to score goals from midfield and share the load a bit more," he added. "I’ve got no doubts with the three lads in particular and then we’ve got Nahki [Wells] as well and Nahki always looks dangerous on the pitch.
"We’ve got goals in those areas but that puts an awful lot of expectation and weight of responsibility on them. There are areas that we need to strengthen but it’s not going to be a heavy spending window, it’ll be trying to get players in that have a hunger to succeed, that’s what we need."
Pearson's necessity to sign a midfielder will only be strengthened if Han-Noah Massengo leaves the club. The midfielder is unlikely to agree on a contract extension but the manager confirmed they have received no offers for the Frenchman as it stands.
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