York City to transfer-list some of their 12 contracted players

Adam Bartlett, Hamza Bencherif, David Ferguson, Simon Heslop, Josh Law, Adriano Moke, Sean Newton, Jon Parkin, Dan Parslow, Daniel Rowe, Vinny Steels and Ryan Whitley all have deals on the table to stay with the club next season.

Defensive trio Bencherif, Law and Parslow signed one-year deals last summer, but it is understood that they now have the option of a second season after reaching an agreed number of appearances during 2017/18.

Eleven players – Louis Almond, Connor Brown, Aidan Connolly, James Gray, Clovis Kamdjo, Alex Kempster, Sam Muggleton, Michael Rankine, Luke Simpson, Connor Smith and Theo Wharton – have terms that expire at the end of this season, while injured on-loan midfielder Alex Pattison has returned to Middlesbrough.

Jonny Burn and Raul Correia will also go back to their respective parent clubs Bristol Rovers and Blackpool, following this weekend’s final game of the regular National League North season at Brackley.

Second-year scholar Flynn McNaughton, meanwhile, will be among those hoping to be offered pro terms after making three first-team appearances from the bench during the last month. No announcements on players’ futures will be made until next week, but Gray warned: “Some of those contracted players will be put on the list, because things have got to change.

“If you’re honest with yourself, you know if you’ve done enough this season and the club needs to rebuild from the ground again. The fans are dying to be the 12th man here and some players don’t know how lucky we are to have that fan base.

“I want a fantastic changing room next season full of honest players who will give everything and every player who comes back after the summer will be told what condition I expect them to be in and what weight they need to be, because we’ve got to have the fittest squad in the division next season.”

Gray went on top confirm that Kamdjo, who has only managed one substitute outing this term following his return from cruciate and anterior knee ligament damage in November 2016, would be handed an opportunity to prove his worth in pre-season and he also looks set to feature at Brackley.

“He’s somebody I can trust and the one person at this club I’d want to go to war with, because he’s an honest lad and that’s what we want on Saturday,” Gray said of Kamdjo. “He’s brave and it’s a shame that the end of the season has just come two months too early for him to get his fitness levels right.

“But I’ve invited him back for pre-season, because I think he deserves the best chance to show me what he can do.”

Gray is already in an advanced stage, meanwhile, with certain transfer targets and pointed out that recruiting a left-footed centre-back and boasting two potential 20-goal forwards in his squad are chief priorities for 2018/19.

“I’ve got one or two players who are hopefully ready to sign, because their contracts end on May 5, but we can’t rush into things either,” the ex-Darlington boss declared. “We’ve got to take our time to recruit the right players and there will be a lot available in the next few weeks.

“We know the positions we need to strengthen. As one example, I’d like to bring in a left-footed centre-half to give us extra balance in defence.

“I also understand the main priority is goals. Ideally, you want two forwards who can get you 20 goals and, then, you’re asking people from different areas of the pitch, like Sean Newton, if he can get double figures again.”

Makeshift striker Newton is set to be paired in attack with Alex Kempster again at Brackley.

Wharton is away on international duty with St Kitts & Nevis, while Parkin (knee) remains unavailable.

On his selection plans, Gray added: “I want to make sure we finish the season with a really, honest performance, so I will put the players out that I believe will give me their best, because the fans deserve that. The majority of players have been very good in training this week.

“One or two downed tools three weeks ago and they’ve been the same this week, so they will struggle to find clubs in the summer.”

Brackley host City guaranteed to finish the campaign third, which secures home advantage in the play-off semi-finals.

The Northamptonshire outfit have also reached the FA Trophy final, where they will meet Bromley at Wembley on May 20 and, commenting on the part-timers’ fortunes this season, Gray said: “They’ve done fantastically well and are in a great position, where they have been able to look at the squad and rest people for the play-offs, which is something we wanted to do, but we failed on that front.

“They have a style of play that is very resilient. They play 4-4-2 and stick to what they do, because they’re good at it and don’t worry about what the opposition are doing.”