Competition for places in the Leicester City dressing room will be vital to their Premier League survival hopes.
That is the view of both City assistant manager Craig Shakespeare and midfielder Dean Hammond, who believe the squad has strength in depth "in abundance".
City romped to the Championship title using just 23 players, the joint-lowest alongside fellow promoted side Burnley.
While manager Nigel Pearson has kept most of his title-winning squad together, he has complemented it with the signings of Marc Albrighton and Matt Upson, both with Premier League experience, goalkeeper Ben Hamer as well as club record signing Leonardo Ulloa.
City's assistant manager said this extra competition for places will keep everyone on their toes.
"I think all footballers appreciate competition. I think sometimes when there is not competition, they can be a bit too relaxed," said Shakespeare.
"We need that competition and we will need to pick and choose teams."
Hammond knows how competitive it can be in the City camp. The 31-year-old was utilised mainly, but effectively, as a substitute last season due to the excellent performances of Matty James and Danny Drinkwater.
"You need competition for places, you need it within the whole group," said Hammond.
"I expect there will be more players coming in and there is competition every day in training. But that improves you as a player." One area that looks exceptionally competitive is up front. Both David Nugent and Jamie Vardy have started pre-season in excellent form.
But with Ulloa also joining the ranks, and Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Chris Wood and Tom Hopper also in the mix, it looks highly unlikely that all three with be afforded starting spots in the first game of the season.
"We are very strong in that position now," said Hammond. "Leo has come in and he is a very good player but Nuge and Vards last season were fantastic and they have continued that during pre-season.
"But you want that, you want that within that group. They can all score goals, they have all got different attributes. It will be difficult to make a decision."
Pearson has utilised a number of formations during pre-season, predominately switching between his tried-and-tested 4-4-2 and the 4-2-3-1 that is now favoured so much in the Premier League.
Shakespeare admitted, while they have not decided upon a preferred formation, they will have to be flexible.
"We spoke to the players and we have tried out different formations. We haven't decided yet," said Shakespeare.
