Speaking to the Sunday Mail, Assistant Manager Steve Kean said: "The chairman has told us to build a team to get us into the Premiership and stay there.
"We have eight transfer windows to do that. "It's early days but I think the teams that came down from the Premiership will be the main contenders to go back up. "They have the parachute money to buy players.
"But even if you look out of it at Christmas you can still sneak in there providing you are not totally detached from the rest. "Hull put a great run together in the second half of last season to go up."
Should City not be promoted at the end of the 2011/12 season, it is unnderstood that Mr Ranson and his SISU backers will put the club up for sale again.