Terry McPhillips would like to get Blackpool’s summer shopping done and dusted

The Pool boss has hinted there is room in the budget to bring in fresh faces, but the matter is complicated by the off-field situation.

It’s unlikely the Seasiders will splash the cash prior to the arrival of new owners, a process with which there could be progress this week with the deadline for bids set for Wednesday.

Pool are yet to announce their retained list, although the club expect it to be released early this week.

Decisions over one or two players are still to be made, although most players being let go have already been informed.

Looking ahead to next season, McPhillips accepts the Seasiders need to make improvements if they’re to launch a genuine play-off challenge.

“I think we’ve got a good solid group left, although the loan lads will go back and one or two will move on,” he said.

“We will try and conclude our business in terms of who stays and who goes and we’ll go from there and try to add one or two – or maybe three, four or five!”

When asked if he’d like to get his business done early, McPhillips said: “Yes, of course. We have targets and the sooner you can get your business done, the better.

“But everyone is after the same group of players so you’ve got to try and get them quick.

“Armand (Gnanduillet) has done great all in all, but we need to bolster our attack.

“Fair play to him because he’s played the most games he’s ever played in a season and he’s scored the most goals too – but we can’t just rely on him.

“There’s no doubt about it we’ve had a problem with scoring, we’ve always said it.

“We’ve hit another blank against Gillingham so getting someone in who can stick it in the net and score some goals for us is imperative.”

McPhillips met with the board last week to establish plans for the summer and beyond, and the Pool boss had plenty of praise for the club’s interim staff.

“I will know much more after Tuesday but Michael Bolingbroke, Ben Hatton and the rest of the board have been terrific I have to say,” he said, prior to the meeting.

“We will know what we’re going to do and we have targets already that have been highlighted.

“If we can bring some of them in quickly that would be great, but it doesn’t always work like that.

“Those 20-goal-a-season strikers are very expensive to buy, or if they’re free, everybody wants them so they’ll be offering good wages.

“We will do our accounts and see exactly what we can do.”