Just £10million spent on transfers, odds-on favourites to finish 20th and just three defenders in the squad — the frustrations of Scott Parker are well justified.
And after swatting away big-spending Aston Villa on Saturday, Parker warned it will be a long season ahead if reinforcements don’t arrive.
‘We definitely need more players,’ he said. ‘Today is a great result and performance but we need to give ourselves some help.
‘The players must soak in how good it feels to win. It’s important they understand what got us those three points and the feeling it has given us.