Gavin Cowan wants AFC Telford to be less reliant on loans

The Bucks had 10 players on temporary deals last season, with varying degrees of success.

Marcus Dinanga being borrowed from Burton Albion worked out superbly, ending up as their top scorer, but Aaron Simpson and Aaron Hayden had their intended season-long stays from Wolves ended not even halfway through.

“It’s naive not to use the loan market, it’s a good tool – but you have to get it right,” said Cowan

“We have to learn what we did last season, some of the mistakes made. It was a good learning curve.

“We’ll tap into that market at some point, I’m sure of that. The immediate aim, though, is to bring in players who are tried and trusted as all of us here want to be looking up, not down.”

Ryan Leak, Connor Johnson, Ryan Giles, Ben Wilson, Ryan Schofield, John McAtee and Kane Richards were the others to have loan spells at the New Bucks Head last term.

Conversations with potential new signings are progressing nicely and Cowan hopes to have a few more through the door soon.

Shane Sutton, Ross White, Jon Royle, Henry Cowans, Darryl Knights, Amari Morgan-Smith and Ellis Deeney are those already tied down for next term.

“There’s been a number of players that I’ve spoke to and I feel over this next week I’ll have the base, the spine of the squad,” said Cowan.

“You’ve got to have a mix of both, some youth and experience. I know what it takes to be successful in this division. “Signing Darryl is a clear indication of what we want to next year.

“A player of his ability, his cleverness, it’s a signal of what we want to do.

“We may not have the biggest budget but we’re aiming to have a very strong squad.

“We can’t have anyone coming in here and having a week off, or a day off.

“They’re going to have to be bang at it for every game and every training session. I expect a lot.”