“I saw it as very timely for us that if we could get things right and win the competition this year then it would be an extra carrot for sure.

“We can structure our pre-season differently to previous years if we get over the line and gives us an opportunity to really strategically plan the next season with some certainty.

“From my perspective, the planning doesn’t change. My view was that we had to rebuild the squad this year fairly drastically because we needed to.

“The reality of it is that we lost a lot of players from last year and the team had been together for a while and they got to the end of the cycle, so we had to make those changes.

“This was the first stage of the build and irrespective of what we were doing next year in terms of competition, the plan was always to strengthen and that hasn’t changed.

'We know the areas we want to strengthen both on and off the pitch and we’ve identified the areas we need to recruit players to make the squad stronger.'

“I don’t think being in the Champions League changes it from our perspective, but it may make us a more attractive proposition for players who want to come to our club.

“We’re still in the stages of being able to develop our players and for me, there are still areas where I think we can add some quality in both depth and the level of the performances we put in.

“There won’t be the amount of activity as last year but the activity we do will be significant to bring in players to improve us immediately rather than just to add to the squad.

“It’s not like we go from being the club we are to one that spends at a different level, my view is you have a plan and you try and stick to it and it’s proved successful for us this year.

“We want to replicate the success we’ve had in the transfer market by making sure we identify the right type of player.”

Manager: Individual award is a sign of the hard work from everyone at the club