Braintree Town chairman Lee Harding said he expects Iron manager Alan Devonshire to wait before signing new players until the positions of players who were at the club last year are settled.

Devonshire is busy building his squad ahead of Braintree’s fourth season in the Conference Premier as they look to improve on last year’s sixth-place finish, which was a club record.

A number of last year’s successful squad have already committed themselves to the cause, but a few are yet to sign and Harding said his manager is happy to play a waiting game with the options that he has available.

Harding said: “Alan is talking to so many interested parties and it really is a busy time for him, but I think he is waiting to see what happens with one or two from last year before he makes any decisions.

“He likes to keep his cards close to his chest, but he’s not the type of person to have a plan A and B, he’ll have plans C, D, E and F as well.

“We are very relaxed about it and as directors we’ve learned to trust Alan and what he’s doing."

See this week's paper for the full version of this story and news on who Harding expects to see back at Braintree and those who may be on the move.