THE season may be coming to a close and there is still plenty for players to be playing for.

They are looking to get a new contract and unless you have been offered one already, you are trying to impress.

It’s a good opportunity to play well and if you are 50-50, which a lot of players could be at this stage of the season, then you make sure you plant the right seeds in the manager’s mind.

There is not as much security in League One, they are only one or two-year contracts generally.

I think at Port Vale we only have nine contracts which run to next season so there are probably 20, including all the young first-year pros, with contracts up.

All of those players are desperate to earn a new contract and I am sure it is the same at most clubs.

Unless you are a Sheffield United or a Wigan, where players are on two or three-year deals, then everybody else is looking over their shoulder and wondering where their future lies.

There are a lot of scouts out watching games, so it is a real busy time in that respect as well when you are lining up your new potential recruits.

It is getting to the time now where you start selecting and putting your lists together but it has happened over the course of the season where you have watched the player a number of times and got character references and seen if they have little niggles etc.

There is a lot of homework that goes in because you can’t afford to take big risks now. If you sign a player and they haven’t performed 10 games in then there are questions that are asked.

Of course most players are a gamble but if you do your homework well then hopefully you don’t get too many wrong.

We’ve got nine players contracted for next year so you work around them because they are going to be here and in the ideal world you would keep the majority of your squad and look to make improvements in the odd position.

The way the budgets are, you have to let players go to bring in new players. It’s almost a one-in-one-out situation.

If you have seen the signs that are positive and you have a good group of players then it is a shame to dismantle it in the summer. But you never know which ones are going to re-sign so it is a little bit of a chicken and egg situation right until June.

It is a busy time and there is far from nothing to play for, no matter where you are in the league.