Paul Lambert says he will give no guarantees of a starting place to any of players - old or new - in the new season.

The City boss has added two strikers to his ranks in James Vaughan and Steve Morison and loos set to turn his attention to other departments as he builds a squad to compete with the best of British.

But he insists that everything is up for grabs - and that the successes of the past two seasons count for nothing.

'It's a level playing field for everybody,' he said. 'What happened in League One has gone. What happened in the Championship has gone.

'You have got to come back and you have to be ready to stake your place. But it is a level playing field for everybody.

'There are no guarantees for anybody. I need them as a collective unit to try and do as well as they can.'

The arrival of Morison and Vaughan adds to a healthy looking attacking department, with Grant Holt and Simeon Jackson holding the shirts from the end of last season and the likes of Chris Martin, Oli Johnson, Aaron Wilbraham and Cody McDonald on the fringes.

Lambert didn't rule out more attacking additions, but it seems likely that was more a case of him keeping his transfer options under the file marked Top Secret.

'There are other areas I have identified and hopefully we will get those lads as well,' he said.

Lambert has targeted seven summer signings, but is mindful of the need to have financial reserves in place for the January transfer window.

'There has to be that contingency plan that you can't throw all your eggs in one basket and come January you can't do anything, so there is that in the back of my mind,' he said.

'The money that we spend now is really fine at the minute and the beauty for me is the lads that I have identified I have seen then for myself so I know exactly what they are like and it is not as if we have gone and bought them for �10m. It is lads I think will do really fine for us.

'But I also know there is a balancing act of January time.

'We bought in James Vaughan and now Steve, two lads I think will do great for this football club, but I also know I have to bring in lads to help the others ones, which I will try and do. But I also know that January is a time when you might need a bit more help.'

Lambert has again acted quickly in the summer market, with two signings completed within the past week.

'There is nothing set in stone to when you bring people in,' he said. 'It is just the way I do it. Ideally if we can get them all in before pre-season then all the better - when they go away pre-season it gets them to mix with each other and get used to each other.'

There have been no moves to bring Henri Lansbury back from Arsenal for another spell - Lambert has always put his faith in the permanent transfer market, using the loan system only sparingly, and that's the way it will stay for the time being.

'At this minute in time I have spoken to Arsenal. I will try and get my own lads in. I think that is the way to do it at the minute. I might go down that route. Obviously the loan market since I have been here has been good for us and Henri was an absolutely massive part to what happened last year.'

Three players - Matt Gill, Jens Berthel Askou and Sam Habergham - have been released, and more will follow, with Aberdeen interested in unsettled left-back Steven Smith, a situation Lambert described as on-going.