Tommy Wright hopes that his summer transfer kitty will be boosted by St Johnstone’s fifth top six Premiership finish in a row.
The Perth club will bank extra prize money from being guaranteed sixth in the table at the very least, as well as bigger gate receipts from their remaining home games.
And, with budgets set to rise at clubs across the top division this close-season, Wright doesn’t want to be caught out by standing still.
“I think we missed the boat a little in January,” said Wright. “We probably should have spent a bit of money. The squad needed a bit of a freshening up.
“But the chairman and myself have had positive meetings. He has already been quoted saying that he realises that he needs to find ways to strengthen the squad. The only way to do that is financially.
“Everyone is doing it and spending more money.
“We’ve got to look after ourselves and can’t stand still.”
Wright added: “I know budgets don’t necessarily guarantee you success, but in the top six we are the one with the lowest.
“The chairman deserves credit for running the club on a sound, financial base.
“If you look at it over the last couple of years, we’ve sold someone for £800,000 and another for nearly half a million.
“We’ve brought in over £1.3m and haven’t touched it. It’s been put aside and has helped structure the club.
“So you can get success with good financial planning.
“Even if we didn’t make six, it wouldn’t of made much difference to us financially. But it is important that we got it.
“Hopefully we can use the extra revenue to strengthen the team.
“When I took over the job the budget was cut drastically and has stayed roughly the same the last three years.
“Even with the success we’re not a club who can put the money we’ve gained straight back into the team.”