Colin Todd wants to bolster City with four Premiership players.

Todd will have to use loans and free transfers to stock up a depleted squad that has been reduced to just 12 senior players.

But he hopes his extensive list of contacts will help to unearth some young gems who will fancy the opportunity of regular first-team football. And he is also ready to call on neighbours Leeds for a helping hand.

Todd, who was at Valley Parade today for his first full day as City boss, said: "There's a little bit of budget to play with and on the other side of the coin, hopefully I might be able to get four loans from the Premiership for a year as well as trying to bring in free transfers.

"First of all I will be taking a close look at the PFA released list to see who is available. That has all the contact details and phone numbers so I plan to be very busy.

"Players have to be brought in before the season starts, possibly in time for our pre-season.

"The squad is being whittled down in terms of players and might go down even more depending on what the administrators say. But we are allowed up to 20 senior players and that does not count people like Tom Penford, Kevin Sanasy and Danny Forrest who are still fourth-year scholars.

"There is no money to spend on players, it will all be utilised on wages. Trying to get players in won't be easy and we've got to be selective in what we do but I'm sure clubs like Leeds will help us."

High on Todd's list will be a goalkeeper. With Mark Paston joining Walsall, Alan Combe is City's only senior stopper and he is a target for Jim Jefferies at Kilmarnock.

Central midfield is another area that needs beefing up though fans can argue that the lack of numbers means that every position could be strengthened.

With Todd operating with a smaller squad, it will mean a bigger say next season for the club's young guns -- something that has been argued strongly from the stands. Sanasy and Penford pressed their claims at the end of last season with some exciting touches while local favourite Forrest showed in the previous term that he can score goals on the senior stage.

New No 2 Bobby Davison knows exactly what City's next generation can do after his stint in charge of the youth team.

Todd added: "I've already spoken to Bobby about who he thinks are the best options coming through. Penford, Sanasy and Forrest are going to be involved as well as two or three others.

"It's only unfortunate that this wasn't done three weeks ago because there is a lot of preparation to be done in a very short space of time to be ready."