ALAN Pardew intends to increase the quality of Newcastle United’s squad, but not its size as he revealed the search for a high-class utility player is a prominent part of his transfer plans.

Pardew does not want to jeopardise the harmony of a tightly-knit first-team group by massively increasing numbers at St James’ Park, which suggests several players will be moved on at the end of the season to make room for new ones.

Newcastle’s boss would be willing to increase the squad size by one or two, but he is worried a larger group will lead to disillusioned players kept on the fringes on a matchday.

But, at the same time, he does not believe there is the necessary competition for places which the top clubs need to bring sustained success in the Premier League.

“I think there is some truth in the criticism we have a small squad, if I’m honest,” said Pardew (below), who spent the weekend in France looking at potential transfer targets.

“Certainly next year, I don’t want to necessarily increase the size of the squad too much, but I do want to increase the competition for places. At times, we lack that.

“In terms of the starting XI, most Newcastle fans would pick the same side and that’s a worry for me as a manager. Why isn’t there more competition?

“There should be more questions for me to answer at a club this size. We should be sitting here, and we could all come up with a different formation and a different team.

“It’s too easy to pick the team and we are paying the cost of that now with the injuries. The best players have played every week.”

And, having seen Everton captain Phil Neville fill so many different roles at Goodison Park over the last few years, Pardew admitted he would love to sign a similar type of player.