Simon Grayson admits his Blackpool squad may eventually have to lose a few players

Thursday night’s arrivals of Rocky Bushiri and Joe Nuttall made it 10 acquisitions for the club this summer.

It also means, excluding the recently turned pros, Blackpool have 27 first-team players on their books – one of those being Myles Boney who is out on loan.

While Grayson has stressed the need to have a big squad that is capable of dealing with the rigours of third-tier football, he accepts some may be shown the exit door in the coming weeks.

“I’ve got to be sensible and balance the shape of the squad in terms of ins and outs mixed in with the financial aspect of all,” the Pool boss told The Gazette.

“The window obviously shuts next week for the Premier League and the Championship but we have another few weeks after that to do our business.

“We will be solely concentrating at this moment in time in bringing players to the club and then we’ll take stock of the situation over who we might allow to leave.

“But we won’t be doing any of that until I get the squad I want.

“In terms of recruitment, it’s going to be an onward progress of what we’re looking to do to improve the squad to give us that opportunity to compete at the highest level.

“We’ll need the strength in depth, we’ll need the competition for places because you can’t be reliant on a 17 or 18-man squad because over the coming weeks it’s going to be a tough season.

“There are going to be injuries, suspensions and a lack of form and a lack of confidence at times, so competition is key to any successful team.”

That team opens its League One account this afternoon as the Seasiders take on Bristol Rovers in the opening game of the season.

It’ll also be a special occasion for Grayson, returning to the home dugout for a competitive match at Bloomfield Road for the first time since 2008.

“I am really excited, hence why I’ve come back to the football club,” he added.

“Last year was the first time I hadn’t started the season at any level, whether it be playing or managing, since I was 16 – 32 years ago.

“In a way I was quite happy to do that because I decided I needed a bit of time to refocus and regather.

“I spent a lot of time doing my media work last year but now I’m really excited to get back into management, as if it was my first season all those years ago.

“I’m really looking forward to it, I’m really excited to be back on the grass and I’m really positive about working with a new set of owners who want to achieve what I want to achieve.”