Cardiff captain Stephen McPhail believes the addition of "five or six top players" can transform City into title contenders next term.McPhail lead the Bluebirds out for Saturday's 1-0 FA Cup final defeat against Portsmouth and, despite the ultimate disappointment of suffering Wembley heartache, the Republic of Ireland midfielder feels several shrewd summer acquisitions would propel them to the Premiership.

"The gaffer got us in the changing room and told us how proud he was and that we've given it our all throughout the season and we've finished it off with a great performance but no final trophy so we've just got to use it to push us on next term," he told the club's official website.

"At the start of the season if any club from the Championship had been given the option of reaching an FA Cup final, anyone would have seen it as a great achievement.

"So we've just got to dust ourselves down, take a couple of months to rejuvenate for next season but we'll be ready.

"I think we have got to strengthen the squad - I think we've used one of the fewest number of squad players in the league so we've done well to finish where we did but if we add five or six top players I think we can be genuine challengers next season."

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