Last close season, the 36-year-old Irishman parted with around £36m of the Drumaville consortium's cash in swoops for no fewer than 11 players in an attempt to consolidate after promotion.

A further £8m was invested in January to secure the services of Andy Reid, Phil Bardsley and Rade Prica.

The expense has been largely justified by the club's 15th-place finish, with fellow new boys Birmingham and Derby making swift returns to the Championship.

But 12 months on, Keane knows the stakes have been raised even further, and his ambition for the club dictates that mere survival will not be acceptable next season.

The manager is due to meet chairman Niall Quinn and chief executive Peter Walker in the next 24 hours to draw up a plan of attack.

However Keane, who has already indicated that he could be looking for more than the £44m he has already spent, admits the recruitment drive could prove even tougher than it was last summer.

He said: "It was very, very tough last summer and I am under no illusions that this summer is going to be any easier.

"We had one or two players last summer who wouldn't even come up for talks - that's what you are battling against, people not even ringing you back.

"I hope that's not the scenario this summer, but we have to be ready in case it is. You have to expect the worst on that side of it.

"In a way, I want to step back from that this summer. I think I got too involved last summer, I wasted a lot of time and energy.

"I really have to identify the players involved and let the chief executive and the chairman do their side of the deal.

"People say to me, 'You can relax a bit now' - you really can't because we have to strengthen, we need to be stronger for next season."

Keane has already started the process of re-shaping his squad after telling Andy Cole, Stanislav Varga, Ian Harte and Stephen Wright their contracts would not be renewed.

With Ross Wallace, Liam Miller, Graham Kavanagh, David Connolly and Greg Halford also on the transfer list and speculation mounting over several other players, there are certain to be more departures before the spending gets underway.