AFTER missing out on promotion in heart-breaking fashion, Paul Carden says he expects “vultures to circle” around his Warrington Town squad.

Carden and chairman Toby Macormac began meeting with players this week with a view to committing as many of them to another season in the Evo-Stik Premier Division.

However, it is anticipated some will move on into full-time football.

One of the most in-demand players is likely to be midfielder Ben Garrity, who scored twice in Saturday’s ‘super play-off’ defeat to King’s Lynn Town.

The 21-year-old turned down a move away from Cantilever Park earlier this season but has plenty of admirers, with newly-promoted League Two outfit Salford City known to have watched him on numerous occasions.

While he insists everything will be done to keep as much of the existing squad together as possible, Carden admits there are likely to be some departures.

However, the Town boss does not expect another large-scale rebuilding job – similar to the one he embarked upon prior to this season.

> Yellows aim to announce player retentions soon

“There’ll be a few vultures circling as I would expect,” he said.

“There’s lads there who have had unbelievable seasons and are destined to play at a higher level.

“With a couple of them, it’s a case of when they move and who they move too.

“We’ll try our best to keep as many of them as we can for moving forward.

“We don’t have to rip it up and start again – we had to after last season.

“Looking at the squad, Tony Gray is the only one who played in the play-offs last year.

“That tells you how well the lads have done to come together and be so strong and dominant in our division and get to where we’ve got to.”

Yellows were just five minutes away from winning Saturday’s match, but Adam Marriot’s penalty forced extra time during which Michael Gash scored the Linnets’ winner.

> Carden 'sick' after play-off defeat

It is the only season in which the ‘super play-off’ will be in place – it is being abolished after just one season.

In previous seasons – and from next season onwards – the 2-1 victory at South Shields on May 4 would have been enough to earn Town promotion.

However, Carden says his side cannot complain about being the one and only side to lose out to it.

“In any other year gone, we’d have been promoted at South Shields.

“We knew it before the start of the season so there’s no point moaning about it.

“It’s the way it just seems to be – we had to overcome another hurdle.

“We didn’t and we’re staying in our division for next season unfortunately.”