DARLINGTON'S promotion aspirations may not be realised until May, but assistant manager Mark Proctor last night revealed preparations are already underway for next season.

While Quakers' quest for League One football tops the agenda with 12 games to go, manager David Hodgson and Proctor have also started their search for new talent.

With hundreds of players out of contract this summer, Hodgson and Proctor have been inundated with letters from agents, whose clients are available.

Sunderland pair Jonjo Dickman and Richard Ryan are free agents in the summer and were watched by Hodgson in a Quakers reserve game last week.

And, while Hodgson has confirmed his interest in signing Dickman until the end of the season, the Quakers boss is expected to run the rule over more players in the coming weeks.

"We're already beginning to plan for next year and at this stage of the season there are a lot of players looking for new clubs," revealed Proctor.

"We've been sent masses of CVs over the last couple of weeks from agencies and I'm sure there will be one or two we will take a closer look at.

"It's important that we're ahead of the queue for the best players and that's why we're running the rule over some already.

"We had a couple of lads in from Sunderland last week and I'm sure they won't be last we look at between now and the end of the season."

A striker remains Hodgson's immediate priority and talks have already taken place with Newcastle United, with a view to signing striker Lewis Guy on loan until the end of the season.

"Ideally, we would like to bring at least another striker in," admitted Proctor. "We've made one or two enquiries, although it's not a matter of urgency. As well as Clyde and Alun, we know that Craig Russell and Craig Hignett can come in and do a job up front for us."

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