AFTER playing a waiting game throughout the summer, Richie Barker is ready to do business.

The Bury boss expects to make two new signings before pre-season begins in a fortnight and hopes to bring in another two players, ideally before the start of the season.

He also this week agreed a two-year contract with full-back Andrai Jones and expects Luke McCarthy and player-coach Ben Futcher to put pen to paper on new deals any day now.

Barker accepts that supporters will have been frustrated by his perceived lack of action, but having planned to carry a first-team squad of 18, most of his work was done by May.

“The real positive for me is that I managed to tie up the majority of the squad on contracts before the end of last season and we have had no big offers for any of those players since then, which makes it much easier for me to plan for the new campaign,” he said The Shakers boss retained 13 players from the last campaign, and with the additions of Jones, McCarthy and new goalkeeper Trevor Carson, he could always afford to wait to get the best value deals.

“At the start of the close season, most players are eager to hold out for more money than a club like Bury can afford, but if they aren’t snapped up then their demands tend to slowly come down,” said Barker.

“It’s been difficult because we are trying to sign established League One players. Obviously that comes with a cost but there will be a couple of people out there who we probably couldn’t afford a few months ago that are now coming back onto our radar.

“I’d certainly like to add the new players in for the first day of pre-season as it helps to build team spirit.

“I’m pretty sure by the end of the week we will have come to agreements with some people, who will hopefully be signed the following week.”

Despite Barker’s relaxed attitude to summer signings – in stark contrast to Preston boss Graham Westley, who has signed 12 players – not everything has gone his way.

Mike Grella and Nathan Clarke were offered deals that fell short of their wage demands, but with one of the tightest budgets in the division, Barker has been unable to loosen the purse strings.

And with a stark fear of being gazumped, the Bury boss has remained tight-lipped on the identity of his “four intended signings”.

He was strongly linked with Bournemouth striker Michael Symes, although Barker said that he had not spoken with the former Rochdale loan player.

He has also refused to close the door on a return for Grella, while Lateef Elford-Alliyu, who scored twice in 13 appearances for Bury last season, has been released by West Brom so remains a possibility.