TAUNTON Town head of football Rob Dray said he is “very pleased” with how his squad is shaping up for the 2020/21 season, with 11 players having now agreed terms.

Four of those are new signings, with defender Aaron Bentley, midfielder Lee Lucas, and strikers Gethyn Hill and Toby Holmes effectively replacing the departed Ryan Brett, Andrew Neal, Shane White and Matt Wright.

The last week has seen the number of players from the 2019/20 squad agreeing to stay on rise to seven - goalkeeper Lloyd Irish, defenders Ben Adelsbury and Jamie Price, wing-backs/wingers Jamie Short and Ross Staley, attacking midfielder Luke Spokes and striker Dan Demkiv.

Dray told the County Gazette: “I’m very pleased [with the squad].

“The club and supporters had the shock of losing four established players [Brett, Neal, White and Wright], who were a big part of our recent success, but we’ve brought in exciting replacements.

“We have a couple more new signings coming in by the end of this week,” he added.

"There's also a little bit of wiggle room for one of those signings that come out of nowhere, like Busey [Matt Buse] did a few years back.

“There’s uncertainty over when the league will start, but it’s good to get our business done.”

Midfielder Ollie Chamberlain and forward Dan Sullivan are also expected to stay with the Peacocks, but the future of promising young centre-back Nick Grimes - brother of Swansea City player Matt Grimes - is more up in the air.

“Nick is very ambitious and a super player,” said Dray.

“Some Football League clubs are looking at him, and have invited him in, but he doesn’t know when [that will be possible, given the coronavirus situation].

“If he doesn’t get anything [at Football League level], I know that he doesn’t want to go anywhere else than Taunton.”

Dray also hopes to see the likes of Noah Coppin and Callum Watts, part of the link-up between the club and Bridgwater & Taunton College, come on next season.

Another BTC prospect, Luke Manley, will be in the USA, having agreed to join Mars Hill University.

"Callum and Noah are two that we will look at, and there's a couple more coming through," Dray said.

"Our link with the college is very important to us."

In terms of preparations for next season, do the latest government guidelines on sport and recreation - allowing groups of six to exercise together - change things for the Taunton squad?

"Not really - travelling is difficult, especially now we have two lads [Gethyn Hill and Lee Lucas] coming from Wales," said Dray.

"We will wait two or three weeks, for new guidance.

"Keith Emmerson has put together a pre-pre-season plan, but the lads look after themselves [in keeping fit].

"Keith does a lot of work on strength and conditioning, and we're very grateful for his help with this."