DESPITE fears of a mass exodus, Crewe plan to hold on to their big names as they seek a quick return to Division One.

Relegation has brought the expected speculation over the futures of Dave Brammer, Dean Ashton and Rob Hulse.

But Alex boss Dario Gradi reiterated the club doesn't want or need to sell anybody as it plans for the future.

"We've got a good team and good kids coming through and we're hoping to build a better team than we have had this season," he stated.

"I'm expecting Dave Brammer to be here next season. He's had his operation and should be fit within the month. I'm not looking to sell him and I'm not looking to sell anybody.

"If a big club came in for him, we would have to sit down with the player and discuss it. Although I'll be quite happy for the phone not to be ringing in the summer."

"I've got all the team who finished the season under contract apart from Shaun and I will be talking to him about the future."

With the ITV Digital fiasco still raging, how much streamlining of the squad is necessary is uncertain.

"I'm having daily meetings with the chairman at the moment and the financial director isn't here so we've got to hold fire," added Gradi.

"The TV deal scene changes every day and there won't be any clear cut decisions made this week.

"We've got a team and we don't have to sell, the question is where we may need to economise.

"It is hard to budget at the moment and we're still trying to put the figures together but we expect to be operating at a loss as we have done over the last couple of years. We'll see what we can handle over the next year or two.

"We used to have to sell, it's how we built the club. We're fortunate that we sold some players to big clubs.

"We also had to sell players like Martin Booty and Rob Edwards and even Gary Blissett to Brentford to balance the books.

"We're not in that situation any more but if it was the right offer and move for the player we would. That's not just because we're down, it's our policy anyway.

With at least six more players out of contract in Smith, Charnock, Street, Trainer, Grant and Walker, the only confirmed 'departure' at this stage is Geoff Thomas.

"We won't be offering Geoff a contract. I don't know if he will play anymore and we need to talk about that but we'll get him fit here.

"We probably wouldn't have had the cup run without him and he says he's enjoyed it."

With the list of players released likely to be out over the next few days, Gradi plans to see if he can unearth any gems like Platt, Lennon and Ward in the past.

"We'll examine the list and see if we can bring anyone in. We're looking to improve the squad, that's for sure."