DAVID CUFFLEY City boss Peter Grant is to put his summer spending on temporary hold - but has not ruled out adding further new faces to his squad when the real business gets under way.

DAVID CUFFLEY

City boss Peter Grant is to put his summer spending on temporary hold - but has not ruled out adding further new faces to his squad when the real business gets under way.

Czech striker David Strihavka became the Canaries' sixth close season signing yesterday when he completed his move from Banik Ostrava for an undisclosed fee.

Strihavka, 24, could figure in City's friendly at Exeter on Saturday, the first of seven pre-season matches before the Coca-Cola Championship campaign starts at Preston on August 11.

For now, Grant is keen to see how his new recruits and current squad perform in training and in the warm-up games, but he could then dip into the transfer market again, with the option of permanent or loan signings.

Asked whether Strihavka was the last piece of the jigsaw in his summer rebuilding, Grant said: “He's a very important part of it. Whether he's the last one, I will see - we've got until August 31. Even though that's the transfer window, maybe I can still use the loan system then.

“We'll see where the boys are. I still feel there may be one or two positions where I could get an extra body in. But David was vital. I'd probably say at the front part of the field that will be it. Midfield and defence I'll still have a look at and assess that over the next few weeks. We will see how they come through the pre-season games.”

The centre of defence is one obvious area where City have failed to recruit, and a loan may be one way of strengthening that department.

Said Grant: “We've spoken to a few clubs. Bryan Gunn has spoken to a few people, letting them know that we're still looking for players and if there's anybody they'll be letting out on loan, to let us know.

“If there's anybody we feel could benefit the group, we'd definitely look to take them in. I think it's something we have to utilise because last year, you saw the amount of injuries we ended up having. We were short. The young boys deserved their opportunity, but there was a stage when I was putting injured boys on the bench. If you're going to be challenging, you just can't have that and I was doing that too often last year.”