Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale says he will have some tough decisions to make over the next few weeks as he starts negotiating new deals with his players.
A number of the City first team are out of contract this summer and, with a reduced playing budget for the 2014/15 campaign, Tisdale says some may not get offered new deals while those that do may be forced to accept reduced terms.
"There is nothing official yet as I will be meeting with the financial people on Wednesday (yesterday) to establish exactly what the playing budget will be," said Tisdale.
"What is clear is that there will be a number of players who will be out of contract, who won't be offered new deals or will be offered reduced deals.This is because there will be a considerable reduction in the playing budget."
Tisdale would not be drawn on which players were out of contract or which players would be offered new deals.
However, John O'Flynn and Sam Parkin are two senior players at the club who haven't featured as much as they would have hoped this campaign and could well be on their way out of St James's Park.
Added to that, City could not afford a contract for Matt Oakley at this time last season and only managed to offer the ex-Derby County midfielder a one-year deal midway through the summer.
Both Tisdale and Oakley had to play a bit of a waiting game last July and it is something the boss is prepared to go through again this summer as he looks to tie up deals.
"It is not something that is going to happen overnight," he said. "These things could take three or four weeks to resolve.
"If I offer someone a deal on reduced terms, the chances are I won't get an answer straight away.
"This is because they will then look at other options and see where they sit.
"There are a number of players who are out of contract and I will have to spend a considerable amount of time deciding how I'm going to cut the cake. This is in terms of who is offered deals and how much.
"There will be players who won't be offered deals, but then there will be players who will sit in a grey area, where I would like to keep them at the club, but it will come down to value for money.
"It will come down to what they are prepared to accept and what other offers they have. It is not just a case of do you like someone or don't you like someone.
"It is a case of at what value. It is how much the player can get elsewhere, how much he is prepared to sign for.
"Most players sign at Exeter knowing that we are not making them rich.
"We giving them an opportunity and they have to be happy to accept a certain amount.
"Therefore, it is a not-clear cut question of we like them, we don't like them.
"We keep them, we don't keep them. It is one of the most onerous parts of my job, having to equate all these things."
Tisdale also reiterated that fans had to be patient and, because of a reduced playing budget, there was likely to be no new signings this summer.
"There will have to be some harsh decisions made over the next few weeks and what is also clear is that there will be very few signings, if any," he said. "This is because the job will be to reduce rather than bring in.
"I think when you look at the first team compared to this time last season, you are looking at the young players as our new signings. The likes of Matt Grimes, Jordan Moore-Taylor and others."
The City boss also confirmed that, despite Bristol Rovers' relegation to the Conference, it was unlikely there would be a deal at City for fans' favourite Alan Gow, who was loaned out to the Pirates in early February.
Bristol Rovers also released a statement on Tuesday saying they would be offering Gow a chance to earn a new contract by proving his fitness during the summer.
Gow damaged his ankle ligament a few weeks into his loan spell at Rovers.
