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Gray plans summer moves

Image: Gray: Transfer plans

Northampton boss Stuart Gray is eager to bring new faces to his squad over the summer.

Northampton boss eager to bring in new faces

Northampton boss Stuart Gray is eager to bring new faces to his squad as he looks to secure an immediate return to League One. The Cobblers slipped back into League Two on the final day of the season with Gray immediately beginning to look ahead by allowing Chris Doig, Leon Constantine, Colin Larkin and Greg Taylor to leave Sixfields. Mark Hughes, Giles Coke and Jason Crowe have all been offered new deals, while goalkeeper Chris Dunn has already put pen to paper on a contract extension. Gray will not be rushed into making summer signings and does not expect much activity in the early part of the close season, while he also expects many clubs to reduce their squad size due to the global economic crisis. "We are looking at adding to the squad with one aim in mind - to win promotion back to League One," he told the club's official website.

Targets

"We have spent the last few months doing our homework on what players may be available this summer. We have watched a lot of games at all levels, we staged a trial game a few weeks ago and as you might expect, we are being inundated by agents and players looking for new clubs. "The message that is coming out, up and down the country is that clubs are cutting budgets, whether they have gone up, gone down or stayed at the same level. Because of that I think that clubs will operate with smaller squads and there will be fewer contracts to go round. "That means this summer may be a little different to other years, but at this stage clubs are still forming their retained lists and players are assessing their options. "Under the terms of the Football League's re-engagement procedure, most players have until at least the middle of June before responding to contract offers from their current clubs, so you would expect a lot of deals to be done after that date. "That doesn't mean things won't be sorted before then, as there is a lot of talking going on at the moment and of course we are hopeful that we will be able to bring our targets into the club. However long that takes is not the issue, the priority is getting the right players in."

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