Caley Thistle manager John Robertson reckons Championship rivals Hearts will have at least 10 times the budget of the Highlanders this season.
Hearts are major favourites for the title this term following their relegation from the Premiership, with manager Robbie Neilson bringing in Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon and retaining fellow internationals Steven Naismith, John Souttar and Liam Boyce.
The Championship will be condensed into a 27-game campaign this year, with Caley Jags starting away to Dunfermline on October 17.
Although Robertson acknowledges the gulf in spending power, the Inverness manager is determined to keep his side competitive in the push for promotion after finishing second behind Dundee United last season.
Robertson said: “It’s going to be a sprint season. Hearts are favourites in terms of budget.
“I’m sure their budget will be 10 times more than ours, but they can only play 11 of those players.
“Both Dundee clubs, Dunfermline and Partick spent more than us last year, yet we only finished behind one of them.
“Money is money. What I’ve got to do is get the best team I can for the money I’ve got.”
Robertson has already made four signings, but remains on the lookout for another striker ahead of the new season.
Although Robertson would love to have a talismanic striker at his disposal, the Caley Jags boss is hoping for goalscoring contributions throughout his team.
He added: “I know the fans want us to sign a Billy Mckay or Lawrence Shankland type, but they are difficult to find – especially on our budget.
“What we have said to the team, as we did last year, is it’s a collective if we can get our defenders and midfielders adding goals.
“While Shankland scored 30-odd, the next Dundee United scorer was six or seven.
“We are trying to find one but if we don’t have that guy who can get us 25 goals, if you look at the players we’ve got, the rest of the squad can chip in as well.”
Robertson feels his front men have goals in them this term, adding: “If we can get Shane Sutherland up to 15 or 16, Nikolay Todorov up to six or seven like last year, then James Keatings and Aaron Doran scoring seven to 10 with Miles Storey scoring six or seven, as well as Daniel MacKay and Roddy MacGregor chipping in, I think the collective can get us there.”
