"Some decent offers have been put to people" - Millington on his Town squad, new signings and next season

The dust has just about settled on The Shaymen's magnificent Wembley triumph in the FA Trophy final and their 1-0 win over Gateshead.

But attention at the club has now turned to next season, with discussions ongoing with out-of-contract players and offers on the table to some targets.

When asked how many signings he thinks there will be over the close season, Millington told the Courier: "I'm not sure at the moment.

"We're working on trying to retain as many of the current squad as we can.

"We've got a few out-of-contract who we've got a bit of work to do in trying to keep in the building.

"There's one or two who I anticipate will be too much of a stretch to retain but that won't stop us trying.

"Then there's a decent number of the lads who joined in the summer who are on options so we'll have a good core of the group retained.

"Depending on those lads who are out-of-contract will dictate where we're at in terms of (new) players.

"We looked last season at trying to have two players in each position as early as we possibly could, which will change slightly this year.

"We had three loans over the season - Adam, Max and Fidel - who have all had a really positive impact, so that's been a successful part of the recruitment."

Millington will discuss the playing budget for next season with David Bosomworth this week.

"It's something to be discussed with the chairman," Millington said, "and we'll look at how we're going to spend it as well with the balance of the squad in terms of age and experience."

On whether any potential new signings were close to being completed, Millington said: "There's a lot of talk going on, there are offers out there which have been out for a couple of weeks.

"But I'd hope by the end of this month there's two or three over the line."

And on discussions with out-of-contract players at the club, Millington said: "Same position really, some decent offers have been put to people and we've now got to see if we can get them over the line.

"A lot of the lads have gone away, some of them hit the airport straight away on Sunday and some of them are going away later this week.

"For me and Coops there'll be quite a lot of work this week, there's a bit of finishing off around the season to sort out, a lot of planning to do and a lot of contracts and options to trigger.

"It's a busy week but I'm hoping we can get a load of work done this week and then have a bit of down time."

The club's retained list was expected to be completed this week.

Two players who could have played their last game for The Shaymen are defender Jesse Debrah and midfielder Kian Spence.

"With my heart I'd say no, with my head I'd say there's a very real risk we won't see them in a Halifax Town shirt again," Millington said.

"Either way, some of the performances we've seen from them, I think back to some of the games even last season, like Kian going on against Notts County at home and having such a positive impact.

"Some of the performances Jesse has put in, in particular in the latter stages of this season and especially the times he's been carrying knocks and playing with injuries and he didn't have to.

"There's no reason that lad had to, it wouldn't have changed the pathway of his career if he'd have chosen to protect himself and he didn't, he put himself out there and at risk for his team-mates, the staff and the club.

"If we don't see them again we can feel really privileged to have witnessed their performances for the club and hopefully take a sense of pride watching them progress through their careers."

However, Millington hopes Sunday's trophy-winning captain Jack Senior and midfielder Harvey Gilmour can be retained.

"We have lads out-of-contract who we've got to get nailed down very quickly and those are two of them," said the Town boss.

"The interesting thing with Jack and Harvey is the age and experience they've now got.

"They're significant leaders within the group but there's some other significant leaders within the group we need to get nailed down who are going to be really important for us next season."

Town look set to take up the option to extend striker Rob Harker's contract, but discussions are set to take place with out-of-contract striker Mani Dieseruvwe.

"Rob we have an option on, so my hope is we'll be able to see him develop over another season at The Shay," Millington said.

"Mani came to us when he had better financial offers because he wanted to be part of what we were trying to do.

"That'll be a question I'll have to pose to Mani, is whether or not we can persuade him to give it one more season."

On captain and vice-captain Tom Clarke and Jordan Keane, Millington said: "Both on two year deals so they'll be here next season.

"It's been a turbulent season for them personally, but that hasn't detracted from their wider input into the group.

"Although people might not have seen them running out onto the pitch week in, week out, it doesn't mean they're not having an impact on performances and what goes off behind-the-scenes."

Defenders Jamie Stott and Tylor Golden are expected to remain at the club, along with midfielder Angelo Cappello, all of whom started Sunday's FA Trophy final.

Millington says he expects keeper Sam Johnson to still be the club's number one at the start of next season but confirmed defender Sam Minihan would be leaving the club.

Milli Alli and Jamie Cooke are both out-of-contract this summer but Town are expected to trigger extensions to their deals.

Millington said of experienced midfielder Luke Summerfield: "Who wouldn't want him in their squad? He just continues to impress, he gets more impressive with time and we'd love to have him representing the club again next season."

On loanees Adam Senior, Max Wright and Fidel O'Rourke, Millington said: "I don't know what the short-term future holds for Fidel but the long-term future is going to be very successful.

"He's an exciting prospect and somebody I'd be keen to work with again in the future if the opportunity arose.

"Max fits us really well, he's such a good character and great ability.

"Obviously his recent injury history has stalled his progression and his development, but he understands and appreciates the environment we operate in and he fits in really well, so he'd be a player we'd love to work with in the future.

"Adam Senior has come in and done a fantastic job. He's a player I think who will move on and progress to big things in the game, but he would benefit from a full season of National League football and hopefully that'll be at Halifax Town.

"I'd be absolutely delighted to see him running out of the Shay at the start of the season."

And on youngsters Frankie Sinfield and Ted Lavelle, who were on the bench at Wembley, the Town boss said: "Steve Nichol is the unsung hero of the club in many respects, he doesn't get any of the praise or the limelight but does so much good work across the academy and the first-team.

"I think Frankie and Ted would be two players who's recognise that.

"They've had a good season training with the first-team, Ted's been out getting a good number of games for a first year youth team player in men's football.

"Frankie's had a good experience at Stalybridge. They've got a lot of work to do and they need to stay focused but the Wembley experience should hopefully serve as motivation to make the most of the opportunity Halifax Town presents them.

"If they continue to work hard over the next 18 months to two years, I think they can establish themselves as first-team players here."

The squad are set to come back for testing at the end of June and then begin pre-season training on July 3.