Wrexham set to axe up to TEN promotion-winning stars as chief predicts where they’ll finish in League One
WREXHAM are set to axe up to 10 players ahead of their return to League One.
The Red Dragons will play in the third tier for the first time since 2005 following promotion this season.
Phil Parkinson’s side finished second in League Two behind Stockport as they secured back-to-back promotions for the first time in their history.
However, as many as 10 members of their squad could be let go ahead of next term.
Several stars see their deals at the Racecourse Ground expire this summer.
Goalkeepers Mark Howard, Rob Lainton and Liam Hall are all out of contract, along with defenders Callum McFadzean, Aaron Hayden, Jordan Tunnicliffe and Ben Tozer.
Meanwhile, midfield duo James McClean and Luke Young are also nearing the end of their deals.
Parkinson has addressed the contract situation, explaining: “We’ve got a lot of players out of contract, so we need to sit down and resolve that.
“Our first job is treating the out-of-contract players respectfully. Last year we didn’t have many out of contract, but this year is different.
“Those talks are important and it is important that we get them done sooner rather than later.”
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As for Wrexham’s targets for next season, executive director Humphrey Ker is eyeing a top half finish in League One.
He has revealed the club are hopeful of finishing in upper mid-table on their return to the third tier.
Ker told the Independent: “I think we’ve often talked about the idea that it takes three transfer windows to really build a squad into what you need to compete in any one division and next season will be one window shorter than that.
“But I think the core of this team is very strong. They’re very strong personalities, good players and they love each other, so that’s a great basis to build from.
“We’ll be adding players in the summer and sadly saying goodbye to one or two, which is sort of just the nature of football, and then we’ll sort of see where we wind up.
“Inside the building, we’re like, ‘Look, our objective is get up and stay up, stabilise and build a good platform and go again the following year.’
“But stranger things than promotion have happened – we might go through the division again.
“To be honest, that would probably be too fast for us. It wouldn’t actually be that good for the club as a whole if we did go all the way through this year because we’d just be going so quickly.
“Then we’d be trying to catch up with infrastructure and our facilities and everything would be a big, big challenge. So I think something nice and comfortable – upper mid-table, please! Tenth. I’d be very happy with that.”