info@businessghana.com
Stoke City boss Alex Neil says this season has "hurt" but that he knows "exactly what needs to be done" to get the club back among the promotion contenders in the Championship.
The Potters finished 16th, nine points above the relegation zone and 16 points shy of the play-offs places this term.
The final-day defeat at Watford was their fifth in the last seven games of the campaign.
"It's not difficult to see what we need to try to fix," Neil said.
Neil was appointed six games into the Championship season after choosing to leave Sunderland, and made a solid start with three wins, three draws and two defeats in his first eight games in charge.
Victory against his former club Preston took the Potters to within three points of the play-offs after 14 games - as close as they got all season.
"What's really clear is we know the areas we want to strengthen," Neil told BBC Radio Stoke.
"We knows what's required to make these games simpler, taking opportunities and make sure we're nice and solid at the back."
With only three goals scored in their last seven games of the season, and 25 scored in 23 home matches, Neil says he will "think about what we need - whether that's a target man or not" in his summer recruitment plans.
"This season was always going to be tough with the turnover - making sales, putting five loans back and bringing another six in," Neil said.
"So that changeover midway through the season was always going to be difficult. We lost some loan players at key times too. So we've got loads to get on with in the summer and we've got our hands full."
With the future of a number of players yet to be decided, Neil says he hopes anyone who is weighing up whether to stay - or return on loan - does not "get distracted by what's in front of them over the last couple of games", adding there is a "much bigger picture to be looked at".
Having led Norwich to promotion to the Premier League in 2015, and Sunderland into the Championship last season, Neil knows this term has not matched expectations.
"I've been in this league for a long time and I think this is the lowest position I've ever finished as a manager. I know what needs doing we've just got to go and get it done," he said.
"Lessons on this season have been learned weeks ago rather than the last few games - we want to make sure we're competitive in the league.
"My pride is damaged. When you want to win and you lose a game, that's when it gets damaged - and so it should, it hurts.
"I'm really determined to make it work and make sure next year we're really good."
