DAVID CUFFLEY City boss Peter Grant believes he is “getting closer” to the squad he wants to be able to challenge for promotion - and is hoping for more new arrivals before the end of the week.

DAVID CUFFLEY

City boss Peter Grant believes he is “getting closer” to the squad he wants to be able to challenge for promotion - and is hoping for more new arrivals before the end of the week.

With French midfielder Julien Brellier becoming the Canaries' fourth summer signing yesterday, and the third in the space of seven days, Grant is on something of a roll.

And as the 25-year-old former Hearts star arrived on a free transfer at Carrow Road, Grant said he was not yet finished with his team re-building.

Celtic goalkeeper David Marshall is believed to be close to completing a reported £750,000 move, while Czech striker David Strihavka has also been tipped to join City from Banik Ostrava.

Asked whether he was now on schedule with his summer signings, Grant said: “If you'd have said that to me this time last week, I'd have been still pulling my hair out.

“Fortunately this week I've been getting answers. There have been a lot of calls since I got the job in October and hopefully they're just coming to fruition now.”

Scottish Cup winner Brellier, who has played in France and Italy and worked with City assistant boss Jim Duffy during his two-year stint with Hearts, has signed a two-year deal and his new boss believes he will be a revelation in the Championship.

Said Grant: “We thought it was going to be a very tough call to get him, but there was the pull that he wants to play in England. With some of the clubs that have been mentioned and shown an interest in him, I think it's a big coup for us and I think the fans will love him. I think he'll be a fans' favourite.

“If I was a supporter, I'd be delighted that we'd signed someone of his ability.”

And Grant is hoping to have more new faces to introduce before City's first full training session on Friday.

He said: “It's great we can start to put faces to it now. I feel we're getting closer. I still feel we're a couple of boys short and hopefully I can maybe see you the same time tomorrow and the day after. I'd like to have most of the boys in for pre-season.

“But if I didn't think I was going to get the right people in, I wouldn't rush it, and if it meant extending it to August 31 to still try to get people in, I'd do that.”