EDDIE Howe is looking for strength in numbers next season, but admits he does not yet know how big his transfer budget will be in the summer.

The Clarets boss was able to make Keith Treacy his first purchase only after Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears joined Bolton Wanderers in a joint sale just two weeks before the start of this season.

His three other summer buys – Danny Ings, Zavon Hines and Junior Stanislas – all came after the 2011/12 campaign had begun, and once Danny Fox had left for Southampton in a shock £1.8million sale, with the Championship just one game old.

There was last-minute activity on the August transfer deadline day too as Wade Elliott was sold to Championship rivals Birmingham City, with Stanislas arriving earlier that day.

Howe is hoping to avoid doing business so late again, as he plots to build a squad capable of challenging for promotion next term.

But he admits he must “play it by ear” as he waits to discover how much he is able to spend.

“We know the areas we want to strengthen. We do believe we need to add numbers to the squad because we are too light on the ground,” said the Burnley boss.

“But everything will be decided by finances.

“It’s going to be tight.

“I think it’s dependent on a lot of factors, and I don’t think, in fairness to the board, that they know at the moment because there are other factors that will decide that.”

The future of Jay Rodriguez must clearly be taken into consideration.

There is already interest in the club’s 21-goal top scorer, and that is only set to intensify once the market is open for business again.

The Burnley successfully staved off Southampton in the summer, turning down an offer of at least £5million last August.

With a year left to run on Rodriguez’s contract, and a number of Premier League clubs interested in the 22-year-old striker, it is unlikely they would reject a higher bid this time around.

Should the England Under 21 cap be sold in the summer, it would be expected that some of the profit from the youth team product would boost Howe’s budget.

But at the moment, Howe admits he is playing a waiting game.

“It’s very much a case of play it by ear, which isn’t a great situation to be in, but we’re confident we can bring in the right players to improve the squad and hopefully we can do that,” he said.