Blues manager Kieran McKenna has been reflecting on his summer transfer business ahead of tomorrow’s opening game of the season at home to Bolton Wanderers.

Town have made six signings, striker Freddie Ladapo, midfielder Dominic Ball, left-backs Greg Leigh and Leif Davis and forward Marcus Harness on a permanent basis and Arsenal forward Tyreece John-Jules on loan.

McKenna was asked whether it as a case of looking to give himself more options or filling in gaps in his squad.

“Probably a mixture,” he reflected. “I think some of the main aspects were understanding the league and what it was going to take to be successful in this league.

“I think there were lessons learned across the football club last season about the competitiveness and the requirements to be successful in this league.

“That’s one area we tried to address, certainly with some of the earlier signings, in terms of the experience and physicality that a Dominic Ball or a Freddie Ladapo or a Greg Leigh can bring to the squad. I think we managed to get more of those qualities into the building very early on.

“On top of that, it is about looking at which profiles fit our style of play. We were very clear on the style of football we want to play, it’s a certain type of player and a certain type of profile that’s going to fit that mould.

“It is about identifying those qualities and looking at different areas of the market where we could bring those players in.

“We managed to sign Tyreece John-Jules, who is a young player out of a big club who was well known to me throughout his youth career but who has had a couple of setbacks over the last few years. But he is an immense talent who can really flourish in our style of play.

“Marcus Harness is maybe a similar type, but coming from a different background and has lots of games and lots of League One experience.

“It is about identifying the qualities we want in a player and identifying the type of players who are going to fit into our style of football and into our systems - and looking at where we can get them in the market, and we’ve managed to reach different areas of the market over the course of the summer.”

Town are still in the market for further signings with Leicester striker George Hirst their top target, while former loanee Bersant Celina remains another and could return for a third spell sooner rather than later.

We understand a return for another of last season’s loanees, striker Macauley Bonne, isn’t impossible but the Blues are only likely to look in that direction if they’re unable to land Hirst.

Quizzed on whether Town are getting near to any further additions, McKenna said: “I don’t think there’s anything very, very close, to be honest. It’s not been in my focus at all this week.

“Obviously the club continued to have conversations and work in the background and my focus this week’s been completely on the squad of players we have here and I don’t think there’s any very imminent business.

Photo: TWTD

ozzie added 19:54 - Jul 29 Good to see ,things are moving upwards, i am so looking forward to seeing these lads play well tomorrow
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