Alan Devonshire accepts he may not be able to keep hold of all the Braintree Town players he wants to this summer.

The Iron boss has been told that his playing budget won’t be trimmed for next season and while his thoughts are focused on tomorrow’s trip to Grimsby Town in the Blue Square Bet Premier, he is already thinking about next season.

It has been a successful year so far, with Devonshire knowing that will have taken some of his players into the shop window and he expects rival clubs to come calling this summer.

He said: “The budget is what you are given and the main thing about this club is that it is there week-in and week-out.

“I’ll deal with what I’m given.

“It’s hard to say if I can do what I want to on the money I’ve got.

“I know where we need strengthening if I can get the players in.

“I’ve had it before as a manager and I think I’ve always had to work with small budgets for the leagues I’ve been managing in.

“I might have to shuffle it around a bit.

“We’ll also have to look at whether we can keep hold of some of them or not.

“There are players who have had really good seasons and who are out of contract at the end of the season so I’m sure there may be people knocking on their doors.

“It’s a bit of a merry-go-round and I have to see which ones I can hold on to.

“It’s part of being a small club in a big league.”

Meanwhile, Devonshire’s immediate concern is Saturday’s trip to Grimsby and he is looking for his team to improve an away form that has seen them win none of their last six games on the road.

He added: “We know we have to work on our away form.

“I tried to be a bit more defensive at Telford last week and it didn’t work, I’ll hold my hands up to that like I do to everything.

“We’ll look at it again as we now have Grimsby and then Newport on Tuesday.”

Striker Jamie Guy played in the Iron’s midweek friendly game against Southend United as he continued his return from an ankle injury and he will be assessed to see whether there has been any reaction before deciding if he will be fit for tomorrow’s game.

Ryan Peters won’t be fit as he faces two to three weeks out with a dead leg, while Dave Stevens has now had his knee operation and will start his recovery process over the next few weeks.

See the paper this week for all the latest news and exclusive views from the Iron.