23 is the magic number

Andy Ritchie reckons he needs 'three or four' summer signings for Town.

Ritchie is determined to go into next season with a minimum of 23 players in the senior squad.

It means some tough negotiating, to bring in the quality of player Ritchie believes can take Town to the Championship.

He will also use the five first-year professionals who stepped up from the Academy to join Joe Skarz - striker Lucas Akins, midfielder James Berrett, keeper Simon Eastwood, midfielder Mitchell Bailey and winger Luke Malcher.

'I do want to add some pace and power to the squad and, ideally, we probably need 23 or 24 players to have a good mix for next season,' said Ritchie, who was knocked back by Brentford striker Jo Kuffour.


'If you get too many players in it can bring its own problems in terms of players not getting enough games and possibly becoming a little bit unsettled.


'If you get too few, then you can quickly be in the mire if you suffer a few injuries, so it's a matter of achieving a happy medium and, for me, that's 23 or 24 players - so I need to bring in another three or four before pre-season.'


'I'm very happy with the quality and calibre of the players coming up and it's great that Gerry Murphy is keeping that conveyor belt of talent running,' said Ritchie. 'Lucas Akins has already come on and done well in a couple of games, as has James Berrett, and these are the type of players you want to encourage to come through and do a job for the club at senior level.'

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.