'There’s going to be significant recruitment' – Dave Challinor discusses the difficult balancing act in contract negotiations at Hartlepool United

The Pools boss is putting plans in place for next season in terms of his current squad and which players he wants to keep at the club.

But with the side currently sitting one point outside of the play-offs with 11 games remaining, Challinor doesn’t want contract negotiations to potentially disrupt what is a crucial spell for the club.

“It’s a difficult balancing act but it’s something that always happens and you have to have different plans in place,” admitted the 44-year-old.

“What you don’t want to do is unsettle players. There’s always going to be situations that happen in terms of potentially trying to offer people new contracts, people might be disappointed with the offer they’ve been given and that can disrupt things so you’ve got to be careful.”

Despite hoping to keep several current Pools players, Challinor is planning something of a summer overhaul.

“We’ve got a plan of where we want to go and there’s going to be significant recruitment in the summer in terms of where the squad is and how big we have that squad,” he added.

“Players we have here still have an opportunity because nothing is set in stone and we’re still making assessments.

“We went two weeks without a game so players’ opportunities come in how they train and how they put themselves in the forefront of our thoughts every day.”