Bowyer's bid to add quality at Blackpool

What remains of last season’s relegated squad mixed with Bowyer’s three new additions as pre-season got under way yesterday.

Wideman Colin Daniel and strikers Jamille Matt and Kyle Vassell all linked up with their new team- mates for the first time.

Those three were signed in the space of 48 hours but with no further recruits in the fortnight since, Bowyer stressed he is keen to add more quality – but without breaking the close bond he has found in the squad.

The new manager told the club’s website: “Already the (new players) seem to have fitted in quite quickly.

“A couple of them are local and moved to the area, which is always helpful, but they seem a close group and so we have got to add the right quality.

“We are still in the hunt for one or two and hopefully we can do that in the next week or so.”

And former Blackburn boss Bowyer says he and players will have to work hard and focus on matters they can control.

He added: “It is an exciting time. It is always good when the players come back and for me to meet them first time face to face. It is exciting and we can get cracking now.

“I had meetings with them all on Wednesday morning, and now we can crack on with the training and look to make a difference.

“We are going to have to work very hard and stick together.

“I want them to be the best that they can be and focus on what we can control – our attitude and the quality of our training.”

Bowyer says that the players will start running today and that the balls will be introduced tomorrow after further tests. He revealed they will also train on Saturday before heading off to Scotland next week for a training camp which will include behind-closed-doors matches.

Midfielder Jim McAlister says the camp at St Andrews will be a good opportunity for the new boys to bond with the existing squad.

He said: “You just need to get (pre-season) done.

Like it or loathe it, it is part and parcel of getting going. You get your hard work done in pre-season and it should stand you in good stead for the full-season ahead.

“It will be a good exercise for the boys to get away to St Andrew’s and the new boys will be able to bond with the players who were here last season.

“There is a bit of a buzz about the place, with a new manager and new players coming in.

“As much as you enjoy your break over the summer, it gets to a certain time were you are desperate to get back into it.

The 30-year-old says pre-season has chanced dramatically in the 14 years since he began his career at Greenock Morton.

McAlister explained: “Back when I started out, some boys would come back in overweight and use pre-season to lose that.

“But now boys come back in great condition and it means we are pretty much back in among the balls from day one.”