Town boss Gary O’Neil says there is plenty of work still to do in the transfer market and that Premier League experience is one of a number of factors considered when it comes to recruitment.

In addition to Cédric Kipré and Chuba Akpom’s loan spells being turned permanent at the end of last season, the Blues have welcomed six new arrivals to the club since O’Neil took charge last month.

Four of those players have never played in England’s top flight, with Abdul Fatawu’s limited Premier League involvement being dwarfed by the 173 appearances made by centre-back Issa Diop, who recently arrived at Portman Road from divisional rivals Fulham.

O’Neil admitted that finding players who have played at the level before is an important factor, but that there are a number of other traits that the recruitment team assess when deciding to add to the current squad.

“Yeah, it is, but you can’t take full security there,” he said. “I’ve got Premier League experience but I definitely couldn’t play, so you can’t take full security from it.

“Sometimes you need quality in certain areas, sometimes you need Premier League experience in certain areas. We’ll try and add the right bits in the right places.

“You can see Abdul, he’s not so much Premier League experience but he’s explosive and has the tools to cause teams problems, and it’s similar with Emersonn. We’re trying to give the squad the best chance possible in many different ways.

“There’s a lot of work going in and everyone’s done a great job to have as many in as we have at this moment. We’ve done six, really, really good business and still plenty more to do. We’re working hard.”

Fatawu and Diop, alongside Japan international forward Daizen Maeda, all signed off the back of featuring regularly for their nations at this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Asked whether that was a statement of intent, O’Neil added: “We’re trying to get the best players we can. Premier League experience is a thing, but we need quality players, athleticism and speed.

“So we’ll be doing our best to tick as many boxes as we can. It’s probably not fair to say it’s all about recruitment because we already have quality here, we have a lot of quality here already.

“But the lads understand, they want as much help and support around them as they can. They want to be part of a successful group and that’s all we’re trying to do. We’re trying to give them the best chance of being successful this year.”

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