Kim Hellberg wants to add two qualities to the Middlesbrough squad that came so close to winning promotion to the Premier League last season – depth and pace.
Boro are currently away on their pre-season training camp in Portugal, with Hellberg having secured two new faces so far.
Kyle Joseph has completed his resuscitated transfer from Hull City, while Myles Peart-Harris has joined from Oxford United.
Hellberg wants more through the door as soon as possible and pointed out the lack of options and quick players that did for his team last term.
FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK! Keep up with all the Middlesbrough FC latest via the Gazette's dedicated Facebook page
"I'm very hopeful," he told the Northern Echo. "For me, we are working very, very hard here and very hard to sign players that suit the way we want to play.
"We need to take a step to make it a bigger squad. Our squad wasn't deep enough last season, everyone saw that. I'm not hiding from that, I think that's common ground for everyone.
"But that doesn't mean you have to sign 11 players, that can also be giving the young kids the preparation to get there.
"Then adding pace. I think could see that in the final. The worst thing that happened to us was Tommy [Conway] didn't play.
"If there was one player you wouldn't take away for the final, it was Tommy. We need to have more than one player with that pace. I hope and I think the squad will be stronger as a unit when we start.
"You'd love six or seven new players here straight away. But that rarely happens. And sometimes they come a little bit later and that's opened up opportunities for other players who might not have had that opportunity.
"So I get to see five or six really good young players that I get to see training with us and give them the possibility to take that chance. It's the same for players coming back from loans. Good things can come of it.
"Of course we would like everyone standing here ready to go but that's not the way it is."
Boro will try to sign at least one centre-forward, while there are gaps in every department through the team.
Here at TeessideLive, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Middlesbrough FC coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don't miss out on the latest Boro news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
Your information will be hidden, you'll only ever receive messages from the Teesside Live sports team, and you can leave any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'Exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice .