Bognor Regis Town boss hopeful of securing key trio – and swooping for new faces

The Nyewood Lane boss says he is convinced that experienced trio Craig Robson, Calvin Davies and Harvey Whyte will all put pen to paper soon on new deals with the Rocks.

Blake has already secured the signatures of Lucas Pattenden, Matt Burgess, Ben Anderson and Dan Gifford – and has high hopes of being able to announce the retention of more players from last season in the Isthmian premier division.

Add to that, Blake has identified players he wants to bring into the club and he continues to negotiate with them. Bognor ended the season with a flourish on the last day of the season at home to Folkestone Invicta, grabbing a convincing 4-0 win — thanks to a Jasper Mather hat-trick and an Oliver Downs strike — to leave his side 10th in the table.

Blake said: “Robbo, Harvey and Calvin are obviously players we would very much like to keep and we are pretty sure, having spoken to all three of them, that they will commit for another season here, which is fabulous news.

“The experience and know-how they bring to our side is invaluable and when you have your fair share of youngsters in your squad you certainly need players such as these three to provide a certain balance both on and off the pitch.

“Last season at this time we were able to get our business done quickly in terms of recruitment and it gave us a great opportunity to prepare properly over the summer — and that is the aim this time round too.

“We are very close in negotiations with members of our current squad and we have targets to bring in and remain hopeful that we can attract the calibre of player we are looking for to go again next season.

“Finishing 10th tells you that we have had somewhat of an inconsistent season, which is not ideal but I think you can say that we have made progress as a club, and as a team. And had it not been for those inconsistencies during the latter part of the season, I think we could’ve made the play-off places possibly.”