Sam Allardyce wants five more players before the transfer window closes on August 31 if Bolton are to have a realistic chance of repeating last season's success.
Allardyce said: "Can we repeat last season? I won't know until I get to August 31 and see how much more money I've spent and how many more players I've got in.
"When I get to that stage, I can make a better prediction. At this stage, with what I've got, I can say I haven't got enough players yet.
"But I'm trying to improve that squad as quickly as possible to cope with the demands that success brings. If we don't do that, life could be a big struggle if you get too many injuries at the wrong time and that's what we've got to try to avoid at all costs.
"Greedily, I'd like to bring in five players. I don't think I'll get to that. I'll keep going and keep prodding the chairman and say we need one more, then one more until he says 'stop' and even then I'll probably ask for one more.
"I'll push him right to the limits that the club can spend and that's all I can do and I hope in the end that's enough for us to try and get as good as we were last season."
Allardyce knows the importance of remaining in the Premiership ahead of any other sort of success that Bolton might look to achieve.
"We don't have to worry about the UEFA Cup until the middle of September. We've got up to six games before that. Our focus is only one thing, from a business and a footballing point of view, and that is Premiership football.
"That's the first priority, finish in the top half, do well in Europe and everything will come down in terms of a priority after that.
"We as a football club and as a business can't afford to go out of the Premiership because of the size and amount of money it brings in. We had £25million off Sky last year and if that disappears we are in the deep, deep mire."