SWINDON Town boss Phil Brown is in the process of ‘lining his ducks up’ amid what he describes as a dead month with regards to player contracts and transfer opportunities.

Brown, who has 17 players in contract for next season thus far, admitted all clubs in the Football League face a nervous couple of weeks as players seek to tie up deals before jetting off on holiday.

For those Town players out of contract, deals have been offered to Matt Taylor, Matt Preston, Amine Linganzi, Ryan McGivern, Stuart Moore and Joe Romanski.

While none of those six are yet to commit to Town for next season, Brown said a delay in confirmation is nothing unusual.

“It’s a bit of a stand-off at the moment, it always is,” said Brown, who took charge of Town in March.

“The period in May becomes a little bit of a dead month.

“When you go into June the majority of free transfers get snapped up, the majority of deals have been offered and at that time players want to get things resolved before they go on holiday.

“It’s a little bit of a nervous time for everybody, but at the same time it’s a dead month.”

The former Hull City boss, who revealed to the Advertiser yesterday that he is seeking a new assistant following the departure of Brian Horton, confirmed he has opened talks with players outside of the club’s current squad too.

Brown said: “What I do is I line my ducks up.

“You’ve got to line your ducks up before you’re winning.

“That’s what I’m doing right now, a lot of work is going on behind the scenes that goes unnoticed and is unheard of.

“It’s all background stuff, and it’s the boring stuff if truth be known. But it must be done, and that’s what is going on at the moment.”

Aside from contracts and transfer talk, Brown also hopes to tie up a pre-season tour to Ireland.

The 58-year-old travelled to Waterford on Monday afternoon to watch Alan Reynolds’ side face Dundalk.

Town goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux featured in Waterford’s 2-0 loss against the League of Ireland Premier Division leaders as Brown discussed his ever-changing schedule.

“Jumping on flights going to see players and meeting future players of Swindon Town Football Club is part of the role,” said Brown.

“You try to organise a diary – at the start of the week it looks very organised and by the end of the week it’s all over.

“You’ve rescheduled and four out of the five days you’re doing all sorts of stuff.

“That’s what you have to do, players are coming and going in the dead months.

“We’ve all got deadlines and schedules and we try to organise that.

“Hopefully I’ll get away for six or seven days myself, but it’s not looking too likely at the moment.”