Stuart Gray has said he is more than happy to bide his time to make sure he brings the right players to Northampton Town this summer.

"The squad needs strengthening and that is what we are working on," he said.

"But we will take our time to bring the right players in. As with a lot of managers up and down the country, it is a case of being patient.

"We have a good base of a squad here already under contract but we need to bring players in to supplement them. Over the last few weeks a lot of talking has been taking place between myself, the Chairman, players, their representatives and other clubs and hopefully that has paved the way for things to happen as we get closer to the start of pre-season.

"I am happy with how things are going. I know it is frustrating for supporters who are eager to know of signings but we have to go about our work in private and make announcements when signings are completed.

"We are all having to be patient. During the season the regular run of matches means that transfers have an urgency about them but at this time of year that pressure is not there and that means things naturally take longer. In addition, players and managers are away on holiday and that all adds time to the process.

"The squad we have at the moment is strong in certain areas but needs strengthening in others. To be successful you need good strikers and we are looking at bringing in at least a couple of players in that area, and of course we are still waiting on Bayo.

"We have irons in the fire with young players and some more experienced players and we are just waiting on phone calls from players, agents or clubs to give us the go ahead.

"Some players, like Ryan Gilligan and Andy Holt, like to get things sorted early so they know where they will be while others, as they are entitled to do, like to take their time and consider their options. At this time of year the power lies with the player and their agent and it is a case of clubs being patient.

"In addition, some clubs are still announcing their retained lists so in some cases we still don't know the full picture of who is available. It is a constantly changing situation. The main thing is not to rush into wrong signings or to panic. Being ready for August 9th is all that matters.

"We are all very ambitious and we are working hard to bring good players to the club as the summer progresses."