TAUNTON Town head of football Rob Dray says it is “massive” for the continuity and stability of the club to have six players agree contract extensions through to the end of next season.

Ben Adelsbury, Ryan Brett, Ollie Chamberlain, Ed Palmer, Andrew Neal and Shane White have all signed deals to keep them with the Peacocks until the summer of 2020.

Dray told the County Gazette: “We’ve been working on this for quite a while, and it’s a massive thing for us.

“We looked at it a couple of months ago as, with the form and profile of the club, other teams might start looking at our players.

“Having continuity and stability going into the summer means we can recruit at a leisurely pace; there’s no need for wholesale changes, just evolution of the squad.

“We don’t want to make mass changes for next season, regardless of which league we’re in, because these players are good enough for the division above.”

He added: “We don’t want to be getting to March or April and worrying about five or six of our lads being spoken to by other clubs, offering them big money.

“You look at the likes of Bristol Bears Rugby and Torquay United getting players signed in January, and I’m a big fan of getting them tied down then.

“We’ve created an environment here where the players are happy, and the lads love this club.

“Continuity is huge for us, and it’s right for the club.

“We’ve got the backing of Kevin [Sturmey], Brian Pollard and all the directors, who share the same vision as the management team.”

In terms of additions to the current squad, Dray said: “We’ve had meetings and spoken about what we feel we need, to make us better next season.

“There’s two or three who we think we can realistically get, but we can’t talk to them [until contracts run out].

“A lot of people will want to join Taunton, with the big crowds, our professionalism, adding Steve Perkins as a coach, the GPS tracking we use in training, that kind of thing.”