BILLY Davies now feels Nottingham Forest must add five or six new players if they are to improve the quality of last season's squad.

And the Reds boss has also warned the club's lack of action in the transfer market so far could have an impact on their start to the new season.

The Scot felt that Forest were three players short of having a side capable of winning promotion last season.

But, with James Perch having been sold to Newcastle and Joe Garner joining Huddersfield on loan with a view to a permanent move, Davies says more work is now required.

"Last season we were two or three pieces short of the jigsaw puzzle. I felt that would take us up to a certain level," he said.

"On top of that, I think we need to bring in three or four new faces. And, with you and me being good mathematicians, you can work out what that means.

"We need a few more players. I have put the names forwards, we will see what happens."

Forest fielded all 17 fit and available senior players in the 1-0 defeat at Peterborough on Saturday.

But, out of that group, Davies believes three players would benefit from loan moves.

"The squad we named at Peterborough was the 17 fit senior players we had fit," he added.

"Out of that group, we had Bennett who is miles away and needs to go out on loan, you have Moloney who is miles away and needs to go out on loan and you have one or two others, such as Thornhill, who probably need to go to a different level.

"At the moment, because of what we have got, we are having to play these lads and they may yet be part of the new season."

In the meantime, Davies hopes new signings will arrive soon so they have time to gel.

"This time last year, of the group of signings we brought in, we had four or five who had previously been on loan at the club in the previous season," he said.

"They were just coming back to what they knew, to what they had worked with before.

"We only really introduced three or four new faces to the squad, in the likes of Dele Adebola, Paul McKenna and one or two others.

"This is a different situation now, this time around. There are not going to be players coming in who have been here before. It is purely new faces we are talking about."