PAUL Cox is biding his time before announcing which players will still be with Barrow next season – and which are on their way out.

While several of the Bluebirds' National League rivals – such as Chester and Wrexham – have announced their retained and released lists following the end of the season last weekend, Cox is in no rush.

The Barrow boss is working with club owner Paul Casson to formulate a plan for squad-building over the summer – with Cox's previously-stated desire to have more depth and contracted players one big factor.

Another is his desire to bring in players with championship-winning mentalities and experience, while he must also assess which of his current squad he wants to keep.

“It’s a tough part of the season, because we want to be competitive with all the big boys who are throwing money around,” said the Barrow manager. “I have to get key decisions right on key personnel coming in and, more importantly, key personnel going out.

“All those decisions that have to be made will be thought through in-depth, and I will give myself a period of time to really reflect and make logical decisions. Obviously I will communicate with the chairman and make sure that the process is done for the right reasons in terms of the long-term plan.”

He added: “I’ve got to make sure that I bring players in who are 100 per cent coming here for the right reasons, and who are coming here because they are probably better than what we have now, to make us more consistent next season.

“It would have been lovely to give the likes of Moussa (Diarra), Jordan Williams, Nick Anderton, Richie Bennett a bit of a breather this year, because they had no right at the beginning of the season to play as many games as they have. I never envisaged them playing so many games.

“What they have done is near-on amazing. Their experience this season will be key to their experience next season.

“What we need to do now, is hold that nice nucleus we have got, with the desire and the ability, and add some quality now to the squad.

“For us to go forward, our game management, our decision-making, has to come from quality footballers brought into the side now. We need that simple pass, someone who can unlock doors, but who still has that winning mentality. That’s what is needed to improve the squad.”

A number of the Barrow squad are already contracted for next season.

Joint-top-scorers Bennet and Byron Harrison, Diarra, Williams, Anderton, Harry Panayiotou, Liam Hughes and Ross Hannah are all at the end of year one on two-year deals, though with several of those men being peripheral figures this term, there is the chance they could still leave.

Among the rest of the squad, Inih Effiong, Alex-Ray Harvey, Paul Turnbull, Lindon Meikle and Andy Parry are on one-year deals with options for a second. There has been no indication as yet from the club if any of these extensions were triggered by appearances during the season.

Cox is happy to have a core of the squad already on board – with others, such as Danny Livesey, out of contract but keen to stay – and said: “There are quite a number of them who are with us for next year already. We’ve got Jordan, we’ve got Nick, we’ve got Moussa, we’ve got Richie, we’ve got Byron. There is a nice nucleus there.

“What is going to have to happen, is that there will have to be some tough decisions to make sure that the squad we have is as balanced and logical going forward as possible.

“What I mean by that, is that the squad needs to be stronger in size, stronger in depth, and for that to happen, books need to be balanced. I’m not going to waste Paul’s money – I think our relationship has grown now, he has a major understanding of what is needed for the next phase.

“The major thing is that the club becomes one, so that going forward everybody is making logical and business-like decisions. We can’t just stand still. Everyone who know me, knows that I don’t want to stand still here – we have come on leaps and bounds and it would frustrate me, and I think it would frustrate Paul and the supporters, if we stood still now.

“We’re on a nice path. This league is going to get tougher next season, and I want to be fighting at the top of it for the supporters come the end of the season.”