Michael Brown is already thinking about what players he wants to retain from the current crop, but he knows that some will depart as part of a reshuffle over the summer months.

Vale only have ten players contracted to the club who have made first team appearances heading into the next campaign.

The manager will now go through the squad and have his say on the future of the squad.

He said: "We are not going to keep all of them, that's a fact. Some want to go and play in League One or as high as they possibly can, so unfortunately that is going to be their prerogative.

"We would like to keep some and we have done as much as we can to explain where we are as a football club and what they would bring to it. I hope I can keep one or two of those ones.

"Offers are being made at the moment, but obviously there will be players leaving us as well."

After being allocated a budget to work with, the manager knows recruitment will be important and that a number of bodies will have to be drafted in.

He said: "We need to sign lots of players and we need to put out a statement that we are here, that we want to try and gain promotion. Hopefully we can attract players who want to take their careers in the same direction the club wants to go."

Despite knowing that the division will pose its challenges, Brown says that Vale "have to" aim to secure promotion back into League One at the first time of asking.

He stated: "You have to aim as high as you can, the goal in League One would have been promotion for me, it's always something you should set your sights on.

"Sometimes it's unrealistic, but you've got to set that challenge when you're starting off in pre-season to instill that message amongst the players and staff."

Ahead of the new campaign Brown has reiterated how important the Vale supporters are to the club, as well as reassuring them that he will be doing all he can to provide winning football at Vale Park.

"There will certainly be a committed group of players, you could see at the end of this season that the group were fighting all the way but we just weren't good enough.

"Endeavour and application is for free, we can only improve on that and that was my first message. When we first started taking over it was quite low but I think we saw improvements over time.

"Going forward, fans will see that we are going to sign plenty of players and hopefully it will create a buzz around the place and get the people coming to watch.

"When they start seeing the players having a go they will rewards that effort, like you saw in the away end at Fleetwood. That's what we need to create here."