Sean Dyche has acknowledged that Burnley are finding it difficult to compete financially with other clubs as they look to add to their squad.
All has been quiet on the transfer front thus far for the Clarets, who finished 15th in the Premier League last season.
Dyche says the challenge of finding players on a limited budget is nothing new but noted that it is 'always getting tougher' to bring in individuals of the right mould.
"Everyone knows, and I don’t have to keep saying this, that we have certain financial parameters we have to adhere to, and it’s tough," he told the club website.
"That’s not doing anyone down and it’s not a negative; it’s just speaking the truth and that’s always the best way to be, in my view.
"We have to find the players who can fit the club and who fit into the right price level and the right contract level, which is always getting tougher.
"That often means we are not the first ones to get that player, due to the simple facts there are clubs out there with more financial prowess than us.
"It’s a big challenge, but we’ve had that before and we have it again this summer."
How last season emphasised a key weakness
Burnley successfully secured Premier League survival with an impressive run of form after a bleak first half of the campaign.
Dyche reckons their early struggles were the result of a succession of injuries which pressed home the need for a bigger squad.
The focus this summer, then, is on reinforcement as well as improvement, albeit with a limited budget.
"We just have to work as hard as we can to get the right players in who can, first of all at least keep us strong, but really to move us on.
"That’s literally, in terms of good players who we feel can slot straight in, but also to improve the group strength because in the first half of last season we were really stretched.
"That’s when you realise how important a squad really is. Early last season was a really important time to use a squad and we had our first experience of having a really tough time with injuries, which makes you realise what you need.
"The balance to that is you can only have so many players because we can only afford so many.
"That’s the way the Chairman and the Board want the club to be run and that’s the way we’ve run it.
"We’ve all combined to do a good job in that respect and now it’s a case of moving it forwards the best way we can."
Preparations ramp-up
Most of the Burnley squad reconvened for pre-season training at Barnfield earlier this week.
Next on the agenda is an intensive training camp in the Algarve, which will involve virtually the entire squad.
Tom Heaton, Kevin Long, Jeff Henrick, Robbie Brady, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Matej Vydra, who were permitted an additional week's holiday after fulfilling post-season international commitments, will all return.
Only striker Nakhi Wells, who has been representing Bermuda at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, will be absent.
Dyche is relieved that his squad can prepare as normal this season, having begun the 18/19 campaign as early as July 26 with a Europa League qualifier.
"It gives the players a more familiar plan of where we are going building up to the first game, and that involves six weeks of ramping things up, where everything is meticulously planned," the Englishman explained.
"You still have to be flexible in terms of picking up niggly injuries, illnesses and bedding in new players.
"But the outline plan has been laid down a long time ago. We’ve had this soft start, with this weekend off and then, of course, we go away to Portugal for a good week’s work."
Burnley kick-off this season at home to Southampton on August 10.