BURY FC supremo Andy Preece insists he still needs to make one more signing to transform his side into a Division Three promotion contender.

Following a financial tug of war with his chairmen, Preece was finally allowed to bring two new faces to Gigg Lane with just days to go before the start of the season.

Former Luton winger Liam George has signed a three-month deal with a view to making a permanent move and Polish U21 striker Pawel Abbott has joined on a month's loan from Preston North End.

But Preece is still hungry for fresh blood and has already started pounding on the boardroom door for more cash to build on the impressive friendly performances against Manchester City and Burnley.

"We have improved slowly during pre-season. We did well in the second half of the Man City game and Saturday's result obviously gave us a lot of encouragement," he said.

"But I still think we need at least one more player, maybe even a couple, for us to be up there challenging because we have four players out at the moment in Chris Billy, David Borley, Gareth Seddon and Ian Lawson.

"If we lose these kind of players then it's going to be very tough for us because our strength in depth is not very good. We have 19 good players."

Chances of bringing another body in before Saturday's opener at Oxford United lie between slim and none, with little or no funds available to spend on another wage, and Preece admits he may have to be patient

"We need a good start to the season to get the crowds in and most of it comes down to finance," he said.

"But it's not just about getting anybody for the sake of it. We need to get the right sort of people.

"We need players who can fill in a couple of roles in the back line and a midfielder with an experienced head who can control things."

For now, though, Preece is just happy with his latest acquisitions and is looking forward to seeing them in Division Three action this weekend.

"It's just nice to get a couple of new faces in to increase the competition for places," he said.

"Liam's got the quality to do a great job for us," he said.

"He's lost his way over the past six months but if he gets anywhere near how good he was before, we will have another quality player who can unlock defences. He's got a bit of trickery about him and he's just the sort of person we need.

"Pawel played really well on Saturday and I was very pleased with the way he linked up with John Newby up front."