EASTLEIGH boss Lee Bradbury is looking to use his contact book to bolster his National League squad.

The former Bournemouth and Havant & Waterlooville manager has taken the chance to overhaul his team during his first pre-season at the Silverlake Stadium after arriving in March this year.

Spitfires are still looking to do further business after the departure of 11 first-teamers this summer, with six players arriving so far.

With links to both Cherries and Portsmouth, and with Southampton on the doorstep, Bradbury believes that connections with bigger clubs in the local area can only help in terms of bringing in young talents in on loan.

Brennan Camp ended the campaign with Eastleigh on loan from Cherries, quickly establishing himself as a key player for Bradbury, and has now signed permanently at the Silverlake Stadium following his release from Cherries.

When asked if he would look to use existing relationships to bolster his squad, Bradbury responded: “Yeah, definitely.

“We have to.

“For us to compete with those bigger clubs in the league, we need to use the relationships that we have, and the geographic position we have as far as being close to Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth and then you're looking around South London at the Crystal Palaces and stuff.

“I have links at all these clubs and we've got to find the right lads.”

It is a double-edged sword for Bradbury, who is wary that parachuting in starlets from Premier League teams could take precious game time away from his own promising youngsters.

“I don't want to block the pathway of the young boys coming through,” he added.

“We’ve to get the balance right, is the answer to that.

“But there's certainly some connections to make sure that we do make the right signings.”