ANDY Whing hopes a tiring few weeks will begin to bear fruit as Banbury United’s squad for next season takes shape.

The Puritans manager and his staff have been holding contract talks with players ahead of the club’s first campaign in the Vanarama National League.

Banbury agree deals on a season-by-season basis, so there have been a lot of negotiations to get through since last term ended in April.

READ MORE: Andy Whing keen for Banbury to take Oxford United loanees next season

Whing expects the club to start announcing contract news in the coming days, though.

“It’s been quite bitty,” the Puritans manager said.

“I think I’ve spent more time talking about contract negotiations than to my wife in the last few weeks.

“We feel the majority will stay, but it’s a difficult market.

“We thought we had signed an experienced centre forward, but he’s gone to another team who train in the day.”

Banbury’s place in National League North was confirmed yesterday, after they won Pitching In Southern League Premier Central by a mammoth 23 points last term.

They did it with a young, hungry squad and Whing feels his stars will benefit from another season with the Puritans.

He said: “We’ve had to be patient and we feel that because of how we did last season, that if we keep the majority of the squad together that encourages players to sign.

“Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener and by staying somewhere you’ll improve.

“Players have got better since they’ve been here and we feel like they can still improve.

“It’s been a long three or four weeks – I see fans getting frustrated about nothing going out but so much work is going on in the background.”