Saunders to stay with Dragons
GEOFF MOSS is confident Dean Saunders will stay on as Wrexham manager.
Saunders has been seeking reassurances that his ambitions are shared by the board and that he will be given a playing budget that will allow Wrexham to challenge for promotion next season.
Moss revealed that Saunders will be given a competitive budget and is due to hold further talks with the Reds' boss. But with a total of 45 players used this season, Moss said the size of the squad will have to be reduced.
"I don't think Dean has any intention of going anywhere else providing we are able to come up with a reasonable budget that allows him to compete," said Moss. "He had talked about nothing else than next season.
"Paul Retout has made it clear we have now got to run it more on business lines than out of my pocket, but I am fairly sure we will be able to put something decent together for next season."
Moss added: "We have got to sit down this next week and sort out a budget with Dean.
"The idea is like a spine of experience. A lot of these good young players like Marc Williams, Andy Fleming and Sam Williamson have committed.
"There will be a lot of players that leave and he will be able to bring in his own - but it will be a much smaller squad.
"It is not going to be the greatest budget in the world because we have got to be realistic that we lose our parachute payment from the Football League now."
Moss admitted it has been disappointing that Wrexham's play-off challenge has faltered this season, with just two victories in 17 outings leaving the 10th-placed Reds well off the pace going into the final game of the season against Weymouth at The Racecourse on Sunday.
But Moss could not fault the effort but in by Saunders who took charge at the start of October.
"Everybody always wants to be involved in the play-offs or a promotion push so it is hugely disappointing,"said Moss.
"On paper, we have brought better players in but we have had worse results. You scratch your head.
"Nobody puts in more hours and works harder than Dean, and he has brought a level of professionalism there has not been for many years.
"All told we have had a go and it is onwards we go."
Wrexham have lost their last four matches 1-0 and their five-game run without a win has not produced a goal.
And Moss admitted that the Reds have not recovered from the loss of Marc Williams, who has missed the last two months of the season with a fractured foot.
"We've been playing good football but at the end of the day it is about scoring goals and we haven't had a cutting edge since losing Marc which is a bigger blow than we anticipated," said Moss.
"Dean worked so hard trying to find a striker. To get Matt Jansen, who undoubtedly would have scored quite a few goals, for him to get injured was hugely disappointing.
"We can't look back now. We got ourselves into a great position and haven't been able to push on so we must look forward and he can put his own team together now.
"I hope supporters will look beyond the poor results and see that we are trying to play football in a manner that is eventually going to take us somewhere."
Moss revealed that improvements will also be made to the poor Racecourse pitch, adding: "We are just waiting for some experts to give us the lowdown to make it better, we need a better playing surface.