After successfully guiding Birmingham City to safety last season, manager Lee Bowyer will now be aiming to take the club to new heights in the Championship next year.

Under the 44-year-old's guidance, the Blues' players managed to step up their performances levels considerably with the likes of Lukas Jutkiewicz and Harlee Dean delivering particularly impressive displays.

Whilst the latter of the two of the players helped Birmingham keep four clean-sheets in his final seven appearances of the season, Jutkiewicz netted five goals in the last five games that he featured in.

Having already decided to release the likes of Jon Toral and Dan Crowley, Bowyer will now be looking at ways to improve his squad during the upcoming transfer window.

Whereas it is unlikely that the Blues boss will be given a huge budget this summer, there is no reason why he cannot strengthen his options by potentially targeting the free-agent market in the coming weeks.

Making reference to his vision for the summer, Bowyer has admitted that whilst he doesn't believe that he needs to make too many alterations to his squads, he will still be on the lookout for new players.

Speaking to the Birmingham Mail about his transfer plans, Bowyer said: "I don't believe we need many [players].

"You think the three loan players didn't really feature in the time I've been here.

"Harper had the odd game here and there, the other two [Jake Clarke-Salter and Yan Valery] weren't even in the squad.

"You take them three out and maybe you are losing three more, I think the squad we had, we will need a bit of luck with injuries."

Bowyer later added: "The most important thing is we put a squad together that is strong and we know what this group, the ones that are left behind, is capable of doing.

"If you can add just a few to that then I think it will put us in good stead."

GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...

Whilst Birmingham did manage to illustrate some real signs of promise during the closing stages of the previous campaign, it would be somewhat of a shock if Bowyer doesn't add to his options this summer.

Therefore, this transfer update makes sense as the Blues will need to add to the nucleus of their squad if they are to achieve a relative amount of success next season.

Having already decided to extend Riley McGree's stay at St Andrew's for another year, Bowyer will know that by getting his recruitment spot-on, he could take his side to new heights in the not-too-distant future.

With the transfer window set to open next month, it could turn out to be a relatively busy period of activity for Birmingham.

Read More – Everything you need to know about the summer transfer window!