Davies feels the Rams are weeks behind their rivals due to winning promotion via the play-offs, and also revealed he is not surprised star player Giles Barnes is attracting attention from other clubs.

"We've got to do a lot of signing to take ourselves up to the level of competition in the Premier League, we need to work as hard as we can and get it right in the future," Davies said.

Asked if he had 75% of the desired squad in place, Davies added on BBC Radio Five Live: "Less than that.

"We have an excellent bunch at the moment but we know the level of competition we face and we must add to the quality and the numbers between now and the end of the transfer window and we will work very hard to do that.

"I don't think we'll be ready until the end of August and we're not anywhere near the squad we want to have, but that's what happens when you are weeks behind everyone else.

"Consolidation in the Premier League is the number one goal and the number I will give to my players is 42 points; that's the figure I will try to ram down the players' throats.

"We know if we can get through the first season the spending power becomes greater but at the moment we have a level we have to work with and that makes life very difficult."

Asked about transfer speculation surrounding Barnes, who turned 19 on Sunday, Davies added: "That's not a surprise, he's a young player with great potential. We've had phone calls about one or two of our players."

Derby had a bid for Southampton striker Kenwyne Jones turned down yesterday, a $12million offer described as "unsolicited and unwelcome" by the Championship club.

Davies added: "We made a substantial offer and they turned that down but negotiations will continue.

"I felt we acted in a very professional manner, unfortunately in this game agents and third parties are always on the phone trying to create a move or a problem for someone."