Pulis has yet to bring in any new signings since Stoke clinched a place in the Premier League.

"It's proving very difficult, but I'm not sure if it's more difficult than we thought," Scholes told Sky Sports News.

"We always anticipated it was going to be tough to get players in, but we are not the only club not to have made signings yet, it's the majority.

"Our work started on 6th May after we got promotion and we have been working hard all through the summer.

"The one thing we have not got to show for it yet is a signature on the dotted line, but we hope we are close to one or two.

"Certainly by the time we kick off on 16th August we expect to have some players in because we know we need to if we are going to do well in the Premier League.

"We know we need to improve and bring in a few experienced faces and give it the very best shot that we can."