John Coleman is facing a battle to keep hold of his star players as he again looks to work wonders on one of the smallest budgets in League Two.

The manager spoke to his Reds team, releasing seven and offering contracts to a number, including Jimmy Ryan, Terry Gornell and Phil Edwards this week, while he is still in negotiations with other members of his current squad.

But Coleman said that, despite taking the fifth-placed Reds into the play-offs for the first time ever – before they lost 3-0 over two legs to Stevenage – and despite a more secure financial position at the club with the takeover of Ilyas Khan, he is expecting to work on a similarly small budget.

"As far as I know, I have the same budget as last season so that’s what I have been working with," said Coleman. "There is no point in worrying that we may lose players as what will happen will happen.

"But to perform the way we did this season again on the same budget I think is unrealistic.

"We punched above our weight and now we have even higher expectations but it is going to be difficult."

Only Ian Craney is currently under contract with Chris Turner, Rory Boulding, Jonny Bateson, Andy Parkinson, Zak Riley, Andy Owens and Tom Smyth all being released.

"We knew that we only had one player under contract in January and nothing was done about it so it’s the same situation now and we have just to get on with it," said Coleman who himself is under contract until 2015.

A mixture of one and two-year deals have been offered to the players but MK Dons, among others, are said to be interested in 13-goal Gornell. Ryan is another said to be courted by a number of clubs.

"It is a similar budget as we don’t want to get into the situation we have in recent times – we do not want to get into trouble again," said chief executive Rob Heys, after the Reds almost went out of existence over an unpaid tax bill and struggled with a takeover which led to late payment of wages last season.

"John understands and we have given him a realistic budget the club can afford without, hopefully, any problems.

"I think John will be working with a smaller squad this season and we won’t have as many players sat in the stands on a Saturday afternoon but we have offered improved deals to many of the players in light of what they achieved last season.

"We want to keep virtually the same squad together and hopefully we can. I think John wants answers in around 10 days so we know where we are at.

"We did make around £60,000 out of the play-off games but we have given the players a bonus, we are spending £30,000 on re-grading and re-seeding the pitch and the rest will hopefully see us through the summer."

Coleman admitted he has already has his eyes on bringing a few players to the Crown Ground.

"I have a couple of players on the radar but I am sure they are wanted by a number of clubs and it’s whether we can compete.

"I have also spoken to the current players about next season and released a few but I think they, like me, need to go away and clear their heads.

"Losing to Stevenage last Friday meant it was a really flat end to what had been a good season and we all need to pick ourselves up.

"I am proud of the players and the way we have played this season but we let ourselves down, me included, in the play-offs.

"In the second half at the Crown Ground last Friday, we knew what tactics Stevenage were going to use and we didn’t have an alternative plan to combat it in the second half.

"We alienated ourselves against the referee; we did not conduct ourselves well in the first half, surrounding him about decisions, and we perhaps expected the referee to be more sympathetic to us in the second half than he was and we didn’t deserve him to be.

"We allowed them to spoil the game and had no answer and I can’t put my finger on why we didn’t perform in the play-offs. We gave away silly goals – something we hadn’t done for the majority of the season – and we can’t have any complaints."

The Reds were down to nine men with Joe Jacobson sent off for a challenge and Sean¿McConville getting involved in the melee after and Coleman admitted: "There is no malice in Joe but he has gone to block a clearance – it wasn’t two footed, OK, it was a bit high, but there was minimal contact but he shouldn’t have put himself in that position.

"Sean was silly to put his hands up but not everyone who raises their hands in games is sent off but, again, we can have few complaints. Now we have to pick ourselves up and try and go again next season."

Meanwhile Ian Craney tips Stevenage to wins tomorrow’s Old Trafford League Two play-off final against Torquay: "You want the team that beat you to go up and, after the play-offs, I will be glad to see the back of Stevenage!"