NEWPORT County boss Terry Butcher is urging supporters to keep the faith as he re-shapes the club this summer.

The Exiles saw 14 senior players depart Rodney Parade last week as well as goalkeeper coach Ryan Mackerness and fitness and conditioning specialist Tony James.

As yet County are yet to announce any additions to the club, either playing personnel or coaching staff, since Butcher’s appointment, leading to some members of the Amber Army predicting a season of struggle.

However, Butcher says the club are closing in on additions to both the coaching staff and playing squad and expects to have virtually all of his business completed before pre-season.

County return to training on June 29 and Butcher insists that gives ample time to reinforce the club, with coaching additions set to be confirmed as soon as this week.

As revealed in Argus Sport, former Ipswich and England teammate to Butcher, Russell Osman, and talent-spotter/goalkeeping coach Steve Marsella, are expected to arrive in the coming days.

“We are a long way advanced on the news on the coaching side,” Butcher confirmed to Argus Sport.

“It should be possible to reveal those appointments this week, but we aren’t quite there yet.

“It wouldn’t be fair to the people involved to be naming names, but we are getting closer on that one.”

Butcher also confirmed fans won’t have too long to wait before players begin arriving.

“I appreciate the fans were a bit miserable last week, because all the news is about exits, but we should be able to redress that in the coming weeks,” he said.

“I would expect to have most of the squad in place before June 29, when we start pre-season and hopefully we can start making some deals official sooner rather than later.

“We are close with one or two players, but it’s a tricky time of year, hard to get hold of players and agents because they tend to go away.

“But things will become clearer and we know who we want.

“We are working off an A and a B list, it’s never possible to get everyone off your A list, but we’ll do our very best to do just that.”

Butcher is also targeting a competitive set of pre-season fixtures, but isn’t expecting to feature many triallists, something previous bosses Justin Edinburgh and especially Anthony Hudson both favoured.

“When we get everyone back in, it is about the group gelling together,” Butcher explained.

“I think too many triallists, or the wrong triallist, can upset that process and I’ve never really been one to get too many in.”

Butcher also confirmed that none of County’s released players will be invited back for pre-season, even if they are without clubs and also confirmed the club will make an announcement shortly on the future of coaches Mike Flynn and Wayne Hatswell.